Alive
by SoulsandSwords
Summary: Tadashi Hamada is a young man who has broken too may promises in his life. Hiro Hamada is the younger brother who finally learned to stop asking him to keep them. However, the two orphaned brothers who are determined to keep their parents' business alive soon realize that there have been secrets kept from the both of them...
1. Brothers

**Souls_&_Swords: Too early to write an entirely original plotline for this fandom? ABSOLUTELY NOT! Heavy AU, and I don't know too much about it but truly couldn't hold back writing this story. PLEASE go easy on me.**

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**生きている**

**Alive**

There were many people like the Hamadas; friendly, successful, and were close as a family. But there also weren't many people like the Hamadas; running a mysterious business that people just couldn't help wanting to stick their noses into. Atsushi was the president of Hamada-Daichi Corp and his wife Kamiko was the vice president. Daichi was the family they cooperated with in working for their secret business and sharing the wealth. However, being the rightful founders, the Hamadas recieved more of a share than the Daichis.

What they worked to do was making robots who secretly protected the public from outside terrorist attacks and drones. It started in the 1940s just after World War II ended. No chances wanted to be taken and the Hamadas of that generation were the first to discover the superior technology to create androids with emotions as well as intellect much higher than their own. No one knew about these services, but the Hamadas of the most recent generation had a dream that one day, the world could exist peacefully with robots as their allies and dear friends. Atsushi and Kamiko shared this dream with their two sons; Tadashi, their first born, and Hiro, his younger brother by four years.

Hiro wasn't quite as intrigued by technology and robots as Tadashi was, but it was perhaps because he was still an innocent child, who only cared about jumping into the autumn leaves and climbing trees outside, scraping his knees up constantly. Tadashi often rejected Hiro's invites to play with him since he was always trying to use the advanced technologies his father kept in the basement to make his own creation. Hiro would sadly accept and walk away.

Tadashi was quite restless; at only seven years old did he stay up late and try so hard to design a robotic flight suit on their father's computer. For some reason he felt like he was meant to fly. It was his recurring dream; he'd be flying over Tokyo's metropolis and around the Tokyo tower. Yet every time when he'd come close to scaling Mt. Fuji by flying toward's its peak, he'd wake up. It must mean that he needed to complete the task before he could hover over the large mountain.

Tadashi would sometimes sneak out at night and work with all the technologies his father had no idea he had learned how to use. He made sure that everyone, especially Hiro, were asleep before he creeped down the stairs and then into the basement. The dark didn't scare him, never did. But one night, after he peered out into the hallway to see if anyone was out, he walked passed Hiro's room only to see the door cracked open, "_Onii-chan?_" His whisper startled him, making him leap.

"Shh!"

"_Onii-chan!_" The three year old Hiro cutsey talked, cracking his door open more, "Why are you awake?"

"I-I'm thirsty, go back to sleep." Tadashi lied, but unfortunately whatever he wanted to do, Hiro did as well.

Hiro jumped next to him and grabbed his arm, "Well I'm thirsty too!" Did this kid not know how to talk quietly?! Tadashi covered his mouth and held him close. He knew his brother's antics.

"No you're not! I'm just getting a drink and going back to bed." Kamiko would always try to make Tadashi understand that Hiro just wanted to be like his super-cool big brother, but he hardly showed his affection, only giving him annoyed glares because he was so tired lately. "So leave me alone!" He pushed Hiro off of his arm and rushed down the stairs, hoping the three year old's fear of the dark would keep him away. He didn't hear him following him, so he sighed with relief and went for the basement door.

"That's not the kitchen!" Hiro was suddenly behind him. Was he _trying_ to rat him out? The curious brown eyed toddler had snuck down behind him, aggravating the determined Tadashi. He just knew his blabbermouth brother would say something.

"Hiro! I told you to go back to bed." The boy crossed his arms and shook his head, standing in place. The clever younger brother would sometimes threaten to start crying in order to get what he wanted, but Tadashi couldn't get mad at that since _he _was the one who taught him that trick. Either way, he prayed he wouldn't do it now at about two in the morning.

"I wanna know what you're doing!" Tadashi then thought about it; if he told Hiro he was keeping a secret for his big brother, as if he were part of some 'cool' club, he was sure to keep quiet.

"You promise not to tell _anyone?"_ He turned around and grinned, Hiro excitedly nodded.

"No one!"

"Not even _Oka-san_ or _Outo-san_?"

"I'd never tell on _Onii-chan!_" He smiled giddily, Tadashi whispered in his ear that he was building something, "I wanna help!"

"You can't. It's top secret!" The older brother acted hostile, hoping his playfullness alone would satisfy the young one, but Hiro begged, grabbing his hands and bouncing eagerly, "Sorry Hiro, but you're just gonna have to go back to bed."

"But I wanna be cool like you!" Tadashi had opened the basement door and was going to turn on the light so he could see down the stairs, but those words and Hiro's saddened tone finally struck the older brother and he decided one night wouldn't hurt. And the thought of Hiro feeling cool for keeping a secret for his brother actually warmed his heart up.

Tadashi turned around, held his brother's shoulder, and knelt down to his height, "You wanna help me build a robot?" Hiro's face changed completely; he didn't need to say anything to answer. Hiro shouted 'let's go!' all the way down the steps as Tadashi shushed him and quietly closed the door behind him. Turning on the lights, Hiro could see all the strange screens, machines and models standing around. At the end was their father's three-demensional laptop that commanded all the equipment and designed every detail of weaponry and such.

"Whoooaa~!" Hiro was fascinated, and Tadashi couldn't wait to see his reaction once he woke the computer up.

"_Otouto_! Come look!" Tadashi called him over to stand next to him at the computer. The wallpaper even popped out asking for the password, Tadashi had figured it out to be_Kanbe-san_, the name of their ancestor that founded their parents' business. He pressed the holographic letters and before he pressed enter, he looked at his brother, "Ready?" Hiro couldn't wait any longer; when he finally hit enter, all the screens lit up, popping out like real life figures, holographically displaying the test moves that Tadashi had been secretly observing and trying to copy into his own creation.

"I love it! I love it! I LOVE IT!" Tadashi felt lucky that the basement was designed to be soundproof so no one could get a hint at the Hamadas' secrets. Seeing his brother this excited and giggling, running all around made him enjoy this even more. Tadashi pressed a command so that the holographic robot would approach Hiro and salute him. As Tadashi did his serious work on the computer, creating armor; Hiro would bring the office paper to him where he'd hand drawn his own robots. He based one of them off of a (very three year old-type) samurai armor but the helmet with horn like features, "Make this!" Tadashi jokingly accepted and sent him back off to continue 'helping' him.

Later on when a machine finished creating a small armed glove, Tadashi slipped it on. It quickly strapped itself to lock onto his arm and powered up. It had a laser canon. The seven year old saw his brother light up, "Can I have one?"

"I don't think so." He playfully rejected, disappointing Hiro. The computer began to run out of battery and power off to recharge, "Oh no! I have to hide everything first!" Tadashi threw off the glove and left it to Hiro, not even thinking about the fact that his curiosity would overpower him. Tadashi anxiously slid the holographic touch screen back open and went to cancel everything he'd put in, but when he glanced up for just a moment, he saw Hiro picking it up, holding the palm of the glove towards his chest. Not knowing any better, he gazed right into the beam shooter and accidentally powered it on; the palm glowing green, "HIRO!"

Tadashi had tried to scold him, but it fired. Going off, the three year old grunted with immense pain, he was knocked across the room and landed heavily on the floor. The older brother gasped when he heard the young boy crying hysterically, "_Otouto!_" He rushed to his aid and laid his head in his lap, "What hurts?!"

"Everything!" He cried loudly. Tadashi felt horrifically guilty, he felt how burning hot his brother's chest was and lost control.

"_OKA-SAN! OUTO-SAN!" _He screeched so loud that even through the sound proof walls they were heard. Why had he been so careless in his passion, dragging his brother into the dangerous profession? Tadashi couldn't handle Hiro's endless weeping, he could tell he was struggling to breathe, "Hey, _Onii-chan's_ here!" He held him closer, "Big brother's got you." Hiro was slightly comforted, but was crying more from how the sudden pain had frightened him.

"Why are the lights on?" Tadashi heard a faint voice from upstairs. The door pounded open and the two parents rushed towards them, "Tadashi? Hiro?! What happened?!" Atsushi shouted, Kamiko saw her youngest son in tears and quickly went into panic, reaching her arms out for him.

"I wanted to show Hiro the robots..." Tadashi admitted, ashamed. He let his mother pick up his brother, who was calming down. As Kamiko held her baby and observed him to see whether they needed to make a trip to the hospital or not, Atsushi had a horrible realization.

"The robots...? How did-?" Hiro sobbed a little more, but ultimately had pulled through. He was a trooper like his brother. Kamiko had lifted his shirt to ensure it was alright.

"I don't see any burns, but he's really red. Like blunt force struck him." Tadashi didn't show it, but he was relieved it hadn't burnt him, "It just scared you, right?" Hiro nodded, clutching onto his mother.

"Take him back to bed." Atsushi patted his son's shoulder and kissed his head. As she carried him up the stairs, he looked over her shoulder into his brother's eyes with concern; he hoped their father wouldn't be harsh with him. The father waited for the basement door to close and knelt down in front of his son, "Tadashi, what were you trying to do? These robots are dangerous."

He began to cry a little, but subtly, "I wanted to make a strong robot who could fly. I wanted to make you proud of me." Atsushi sighed, but smiled gently.

"I'm proud of you and Hiro everyday... In my office, I have a picture of you two right by the computer so everyone who steps in can see how wonderful you two are."

Tadashi wiped his tears, "But I wanna be like you. Make robots who save people and protect our country like you said."

"Tadashi, let me tell you something. One day, when you get to be my age, you'll know enough about this technology to run Hamada-Daichi Corp on your own. In fact, the day your mother and I retire, our business goes to you." Tadashi lit up.

"Really?!"

"Yes... And then when you retire, it'll go to Hiro. Maybe both of you will be running it at the same time! I intend to teach you everything you'll ever want to know about our robots and technologies." He stood back up to his giant height compared to the seven year old, "But for now, be a child while you can. Because when you're my age it gets harder."

Tadashi understood what he said, but never thought that years later he would realize just how hard "it" could get...


	2. Patience is a (Much Needed) Virtue

"_Nē, Onii-chan!_" Hiro would call from outside his brother's door everyday, "Do you wanna go outside and play?"

"Nah." Tadashi still hadn't gained the patience to play with the toddler, though in Hiro's mind, he was still fixated on building the robot.

"Watcha doin' anyway?"

"Nothing Hiro, go play downstairs." He tried to cover up his irritation with cheerfulness.

"Are you building that robot?!" He asked excitedly. As Tadashi sighed with annoyance at his desk, Hiro got on the floor and tried to peek through the crack of his brother's bedroom door, "Can I help?"

"_No_, you _can't_!" He had a feeling it was what had happened a few nights ago that made him anxious about letting his _otouto_ join him, but no matter whether it happened or not, Tadashi wanted to work on his sketches alone, not realizing how harsh his tone had seemed, "Please go away, Hiro." Hiro frowned and rolled onto his back.

"Okay..." Hiro was ever tenacious; he'd try to aid his brother by sliding pictures he'd drawn of robotic suits under his door. He waited happily for a response but nothing would happen. He'd hear his brother pick up the paper, and that was good enough for him. He delivered him at least a dozen of his drawings before he finally couldn't think of any interesting designs that would impress his big brother.

Through the course of the next ten years, Tadashi at last was taught by his father how to command the machinery and create equipment for his robots. When he was sixteen, he got his first Hamada-programmed laptop so he could make his own designs and be like his father. He wouldn't realize how much time during the day was passing and sometimes wouldn't leave his room at all. Hiro would still continuously try to egg him out of his room; he'd knock and knock asking why wouldn't he play with him over the years, but was rejected nearly every time. Now during these days when Tadashi was on the computer, Hiro would sometimes see the door to his room was left ajar and would peer in to see if he was on. He usually was on said laptop and Hiro, with a video-game controller in his hand, would go to ask him to come out, but he knew what the answer would be and left with a grimace on his face.

However, there was one day. One glorious day when Hiro's bedroom door was opened, Tadashi saw the teenager quickly light up although he tried not to show it too much. They both watched the movie _Kung-Fu Hustle_ together for a good laugh and then the phone rang...

Tadashi remembered answering the home phone and expecting his father's voice... instead he heard one of his co-workers, Orochi Daichi, the most recent inheritant of the Daichi's wealth. What Hiro would never forget is hearing his brother go silent for a moment and turn around to look at him to see tears pouring down his face. Their loving mother and wise father were both dead.

Kamiko and Atsushi Hamada were buried the Yanaka Cemetery. The paths were covered in cherry blossoms in order to ease the broken hearts of the family of the deceased. It was a factory accident, but to the public, it was a car crash. Only the Hamadas and Daichis knew the truth. They say a machine went rogue for a split second and crushed everything that came in its way. Tadashi and Hiro's parents were mangled and broken when they were first pulled out of the rubble.

What made the day worse was how sunny and warm it was the day of the funeral. Why the hell did it have to be a beautiful day for everyone else during their misery? It wasn't fair at all for the Hamadas. It was then that Tadashi realized that his only comrade left was the one person he'd been ignoring all these years: his little brother.

At least a few months after of mourning, Hiro tried to get himself back into the swing of things and be himself again. Quietly during the night, he fired up his favorite video game console and was prepared to escape into a different world for a little while. However, there was another controller just waiting to be used. Carrying his player one controller with him to Tadashi's room, he went to open the door but instead knocked, "Tadashi?"

"What do you want?" He heard directly from the other side, as if he were sitting against his own door. What a shocker that he wasn't on his computer.

"It's been a while and..." Hiro nervously said, "I was wondering if you..." He grimaced unsure if he should even ask at all, "If you wanted to hang out for a bit?"

Though Hiro couldn't see it, Tadashi swiped his hand down his face, still too grievous for anything of the sort. He sighed, and Hiro knew what that meant, "It's fine if you don't; I've been sad too." Why wouldn't he talk back to him? Hiro gave up and slid his back down his brother's door, "But we're all we've got now... I'm right out here for you if you need me." He continued to fiddle with the controller, thinking about what it meant to him, the lack of a second player most of his life, "Even though I need you too." He then kept silent for the next hour or so, as did Tadashi. The two didn't realize it, but they weren't quite done mourning for the loss of their parents. And despite they needed one another, for some reason they just couldn't be around each other.

Hiro worried that his ability to quickly bounce back from tragedies would upset Tadashi, and Tadashi meanwhile didn't want to worry his _otouto_ with his constant sadness. But that wasn't the worst of it; Tadashi had quickly realized that _he_ was the next inheritant of their family's business. Hamada-Daichi Corp would be in his hands... He'd be building robots for real now.

Perhaps it was a good thing, but he wouldn't be sure... Not then, anyway.

Not until a year later, when Tadashi was eighteen and Hiro was fourteen. Finally letting their scars fade, they decided to improve their lives and continue on with Tadashi being Hiro's legal guardian until he was of adult age. He couldn't risk them losing their home, so Tadashi took up two jobs; first was his secret one at the Hamada-Daichi Headquarters where he tested the machinery and approved of new secret weapons they had, and his second was his public job, working at a _Shōjo Manga _store, working at the counter. By the time he got home, Hiro would've already been home from school for a few hours. However, Tadashi would be so exhausted that he wouldn't have the energy to spend time with his little brother other than eating dinner.

One particular day when Hiro was supposed to be attending a field trip to Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden, he secretly opted out at the last minute and stayed home alone. None of the cherry blossoms were blooming that time of year anyway, and he'd gone there plenty of times before. Every damn year in elementary school for a Hanami event. The only field trip he cared to go on that year was the annual ninth grade trip to the Meiji Shrine, something for the leaving middle schoolers to go to before they moved onto senior high school. Tadashi had been stressing Hiro out about needing to apply to any high school he could, putting the best ones in top priority. He needed a break from all that jazz.

While Hiro was at home undressing himself from his school uniform, an unsuspecting Tadashi was in the testing facility of Hamada-Daichi's most recent model; _Baymax No. 343_, with red and blue samurai-like armor, they were prepared to fight off any drones or to make any country retract their declarations of war. Orochi Daichi presented the latest model to the staff, "Baymax Number 343 has been greatly improved since our last model; he is able to blast untable, high energy palets that reach temperatures of 4,000 Kelvin and with a fire power of 3,000 Newtons, the ability to blast a 1,000 Kilogram truck, for example."

"But," Tadashi was always the one to point out tiny flaws, even if they were just grains of salt, it was _his_ job and responsibility to make sure that their country was safe, "What is its defensive tactic? You know, since most countries all have nuclear bombs these days?"

"You see this shell of armor it has on? Its heavier and bulkier than most modern military armor. While we as a city would evacuate, should said time ever come, we'd have dozens of these guys that are able to resist the effects of nuclear radiation and maybe even repair the damage."

"But radiation takes hundreds of years to where off. We'd end up homeless!" Tadashi began to digress. He wasn't worried about a war, but his mind was often scattered since he'd had so much on his plate for the last year.

"_Hamada-san_, not to be rude, but we're discussing the _robot_?" Tadashi had realized his going off topic and cleared his throat.

"Right... Sorry."

"Meeting dismissed! I'd like to have a private discussion with _Hamada-san_." While the others left back to their machines, Tadashi was approached by Orochi, "Don't worry about it _Hamada-san_, you're new to this stuff, it's fine to get a little off topic once in a while."

"God, I just didn't expect all that to happen last year."

"No one did... No one should be as young as you are and running their family's secret business."

Tadashi sat down on one of the metal chairs, "Or working two jobs, taking care of their little brother when they hardly have any time with them... God, I feel bad for Hiro, I always neglected him as a kid."

Orochi patted his shoulder, "Hey, a lot of siblings are like that; it's usually not until their twenties or thirties they start appreciating each other." He laughed.

Tadashi nodded, "I just want to do things the way my father did; better even. I want to make things right for Hiro, who lost his parents so young. And to keep this business booming, so maybe one day the public can know the great things I've seen." Orochi snorted and started for the door.

"No one's seen the 'great things' we've done in the seventy years we've been doing it!"

"Well, things can change." Tadashi rebutted, but Orochi commented that not everything could or _should_ change at all before leaving the conference room. Tadashi was left alone with the unactiviated _Baymax No. 343_ standing ten feet tall before him. He admired the crown jewel of all their creations; on the forarm of the machines' right glove was their flag; the flag of The Land of the Rising Sun. It was always on the right hand since the right hand was the one that could blast canons. Tadashi felt that in all its benevolence, there was still something missing from all their creations. It stemmed back to the dream he'd been having for eleven years; the dream where he was flying above river streams and higher than mountains. He fanticized about the day that he could create brain-powered wings for humans so that they could all share his dream... But for now, he had to stick with the program of advancing military technologies.

Patience is a virtue he told himself.

After his long day at the manga stand, Tadashi biked his way home through the streets of Tokyo. Tokyo, aside from Mount. Fuji observing the city from far away, was a lovely, flat area to bike in. His favorite part of the day was his bike ride home since he always had to pass through Mita Dōri, the street from where he could see the Tokyo Tower's afterglow in the sunset. He wasn't far from home after that; he pulled into his driveway knowing that Hiro was probably exhausted from his fieldtrip as well.

When he walked in, he was confused to see Hiro using the living room television, completely lost in the game _Street Fighter IV_. Hiro never played video games after a long day of school... He had normally already showered and was in his room doing homework. It looked like he'd been in his house clothes all day and his backpack was even tossed set by the steps leading to the second floor. Tadashi felt suspicious and closed the door behind him, "Hey little bro!"

Hiro glanced at him with his eyes and went straight back to the T.V., "Hey."

"How was the field trip?"

Hiro felt a fight coming on, but he first wanted to finish his current battle with Poison. His mind too focused on the game, he genuinely needed a repeat of his question, "What?"

"The field trip to Shinjuku Gyoen, how was it?" Tadashi folded his arms, and he heard the victory effect and Hiro dropped the controller.

"Oh that; same as every year in elementary school, but without the cherry blossoms... The part that even makes going there fun." He rolled his eyes.

"Didn't think you'd be up for challenging yourself for that after all the 'fun' you had today."

Hiro didn't even care enough to hide it from his brother; he wasn't smug, but he wasn't up for an acting show either, "Oh. Yup." He said indifferently, completely out of character to his brother, "Anyways, how was work?"

Tadashi took off his work jacket and threw it over the stair bannister, "Don't try to change the subject." Hiro detested it when Tadashi tried to act like a parent.

"_What_ subject?" He turned around on the couch to face his so-called brother, "I was being nice and asking you how work was."

"I know this isn't your normal routine; did you even go to school today?" Hiro didn't like the venom in his tone and nervously looked away, "Hiro...?" He growled.

"...No?"

"Good god!" He smacked his face. Hiro snarled and stood up.

"So what? I cut school on a _field trip_ day! What's the big deal?"

"The deal is we payed for you to go on that trip! And you had an assignment on it, remember?"

"So what? It's for my enviroment class, I'll make it up." Hiro didn't feel like an argument and began to walk up the stairs, but Tadashi grabbed his arm, not tugging on him, but stopping him.

"That's not the point! It's not like you to just suddenly skip school."

"_You've_ done it before." Hiro murmured.

"When?!"

"Two years ago, snuck out during study hall to meet with some girl." He smirked slightly, it was one of the few secrets he got to keep with his brother. Not much of a secret anymore.

"That was my stupid period, okay?" He abashedly stated, "But I never did it again, and neither will you, got it?" Hiro blew his untamed hair out of his face, spiky and wild compared to his brother's slick and straight hair. It was always so irritating when Tadashi decided now was the time to start being a 'responsible older brother.'

For all he knew, he could've been doing it all year, "Sure, whatever." Hiro snatched his arm away, "It's not like you're ever home to catch me, anyway!"

Tadashi hated his brother's brazen personality and followed him up the steps, "What did you say?" Hiro stopped at the top, Tadashi halted halfway to the second floor.

"You don't care, you just don't want the social workers to think you can't take care of me." Hiro knew that if people saw him home alone despite his mature age, people would call in since they knew of their dysfunctional relationship, "But honestly, I'm home alone so much anyway, they won't know the difference! You're always gone, working!"

"Well, we can't lose our house!"

"What more could we possibly lose if you just quit that stupid job at the... cyber factory?!" Hiro hated that job. He spit on their family name for it. All their lives it had stolen his brother away from him. Especially now when he was recovering from depression of losing their parents. Tadashi was too angry to even notice Hiro's true motive; to have his attention.

"That job means a lot to me. It meant a lot to our parents."

"If you love it so much, why don'tcha go back to it?!"

"I think I _will!_" Tadashi grabbed his jacket back off the rail.

"Good!"

"Bye!"

"BYE!"

Before Tadashi could make it to the front door, the house shook when Hiro's bedroom door slammed. Blowing away his flustered emotions, Tadashi slammed the front door behind him and biked away, not knowing Hiro watched him do so from his window. That was usually how their conversations went lately. The two still feeling so bitter and frustrated that they took it out on each other when in reality they needed to confide in one another.

Tadashi thought about that as he biked around Shinjuku clearing his mind and thinking about how he overreacted with Hiro's one-time rebellion. His little brother was a good kid; better than most. He brought home straight A's, always completed his list of chores without complaining, didn't sneak out acting stupid. Tadashi stopped in front of a small electronics store, picked up something, and biked back home. He saw Hiro's bedroom, though dim, had a light on.

He quietly walked up and hesitantly turned the doorknob, he saw his brother just sitting on his bed with a book in his hands. Slightly saddened by his presence, Hiro glanced at him and turned the page, "Hey." At least he was willing to make peace with him.

"Hey." Tadashi gently smiled and walked in Hiro's far-from-fancy room. He only had his bed, his desk with his lamp, computer for school, and a closet full of clothes, not to mention the television on a nightstand with a DVD player plugged into it. It was dusty from not being used for so long. Tadashi awkwardly pulled Hiro's rolling chair over and sat down, "Watcha reading?"

Hiro could hardly look at his brother in the eyes; they had the same large brown eyes too, "Just a Haruki Murakami book for school. I need to get to chapter three."

"Oh... Cool."

"Mhm." He flipped to the next page, re-reading the paragraphs over and over since he tended to zone out when he was reading something he wasn't interested in. Tadashi sighed.

"I'm sorry about earlier... I got you this," He held up a CD case which the confused Hiro accepted, "It's a new _Japanese Motors_ album." He said energetically as Hiro flipped it over to look at the tracks, "You like them, right?"

"Uh... Yeah." Hiro chuckled, as did Tadashi.

"Am I forgiven?"

"Yup..." Hiro just kept the case in his hand, flipping it around. Tadashi felt a glint of doubt.

"You don't seem very happy."

"You bought your forgiveness again." Hiro leaned over to his bed-side desk and opened the drawer, full of other albums his brother had purchased after a fight.

Tadashi sheepishly shrugged, "Well, they always work."

"But we never solve anything." Hiro put the book down and turned to his older brother, "We've never really bonded or talked about how we've been..." He tried to find the right words, "_Feeling_ lately. You're always gone and sometimes I still get sad about mom and dad... And you're not there to talk to."

Feeling guiltier than ever, Tadashi looked away, "You're right... I just want to do what our parents would've and keep the business successful so that should one day come we go to war again, our public will be safe... But I should put my brother first." Hiro smiled at his comment, "But I need those two jobs so that our situation doesn't get worse!"

"I can get a job!" Hiro insisted, "There are plenty of after-school openings, I stay up late doing homework anyway."

"Hiro, your job is to finish middle school so you can get accepted into a good high school. I want to_ stay_ the only Hamada who didn't get to finish." Tadashi ultimately dropped out before graduating to take up his two jobs and support Hiro.

"Look, Tadashi, I'm sorry I cut school today... It's just, that field trip; I always went there when our parents were around and... Now they're not. I wouldn't have anyone to talk about it with when I got home."

"You can tell me about your day anytime, you know that!" Tadashi grinned.

"Well, _now_ I do." The two chuckled.

"Let's make a deal; I vow to make more time for my little brother... _if_ he promises to stay in school and keep his grades in check!"

Hiro saluted, "Roger, if he who swears keeps his end of the bargain!"

Tadashi had never felt closer to his brother, as neither did Hiro. For the first time they were agreeing to be brothers.


	3. 飛びたい

He'd had that dream again, the one about just reaching Mount Fuji's summit. He was so close to the cone before he woke up, almost positive he'd make it this time. Tadashi sat up from his bed and looked at the clock, _AM__6:03_. A little too early to wake Hiro up for school, but early enough so that he could take his morning shower before getting ready for work.

The dream always left him exhausted and tired, he was rubbing his eyes and felt wobbly as he scrubbed his skin and washed his hair; Tadashi was hoping the hot water would wake him up, but so far it wasn't working. The drowsy young man kept reminding himself he couldn't relax in the hot water, he had a job to get to! Finally turning it off and stepping out into the cold, brisk air, he dried himself quickly and readied himself. While Hamada-Daichi Corp required formal wear, his other job only requested that they 'dress appropriately for the public.' He usually changed out of his suit and tie before leaving to his public job. He combed his dark hair and kept it nice and neat compared to Hiro's hair that was all over the place.

Speaking of his _otouto_, he checked his bedroom clock again to see it was _AM6:27_, a little later than usual, since Tadashi usually liked leaving breakfast for Hiro or to at least pack his lunch for him. Hiro usually did those things himself, but Tadashi liked showing he cared, especially now that he made a promise. He opened his brother's bedroom door and it creaked. Hiro's room was a mess; his shoes laying near the desk that had stacks of papers and clutter, a skateboard and soccer ball both just sitting against a corner of his wall. He was more of an outdoors person than Tadashi, and those two childhood objects of his were proof.

Hiro was dead asleep, his head with incredibly tousled hair was poked out from under his covers, one arm dangling just above the floor. Of course how was his hair anymore unkempt than usual? Tadashi knocked on the open door, "Hiro, wake up." He heard the fourteen year old smack his lips and groan.

"What...?"

"Don't wanna miss the sunrise, do you?" Tadashi grinned, Hiro meanwhile sat up and didn't even open his eyes.

"Am I late?" He rested his chin on one hand and wiped the drool off with the other.

"No, thanks to me. I'll try to get home from my second job earlier today so that maybe we can hang out!" His eyes fluttered open, suddenly intrigued, "Guy time, right?"

Hiro's eyes were puffy and tired but that last response made him smile, "Yeah, I'm okay with that."

"I thought you'd be." Tadashi nodded. They then said their goodbyes and went to start their days. Tadashi biked to his first job just a little ways out of the Shinjuku metropolis where very few business buildings stood, other people not suspecting what went on in the underground facilities. The robotics testing and such. For all they knew, they were just technology and computer engineers, making new machinery. They made new machines alright.

Tadashi stopped to give his legs a rest. He had to bike through a rocky path that required a lot of energy. He stopped and realized that this was his favorite part of his morning; watching the sunrise of Mount Fuji. The Land of the Rising Sun never disappointed him; every sunrise was a different experience. His parents had taken him and his brother on a picnic trip to at least every lake at the base of the beautiful mountain, usually during the evening so they could enjoy the sunset. Tadashi wondered if it was that time in his childhood that he first started having that dream; he always passed over the same lake in his dream, Lake Kawaguchi.

As he appreciated the sunrise he also began to ponder what was it exactly that was making him fly. It wasn't wings, nor was it any type of jetpack or engine. It was his own energy and spirit that was letting him fly. But Tadashi knew that dreams like that wouldn't come true, not any fantasy-based dream. He began to jokingly wonder that if he made his goal rather than his dream, he would achieve it with hard work.

...In fact, why the hell shouldn't he make it his goal to fly?

He worked in his family's damn laboratory with technology nearly beyond anyone's comprehension. He had a basement full of prototypes of technology too! Tadashi had no more time to waste; he rushed to his job and to his office. Rather than opening up his holographic touch-screen laptop, he pulled out sketch-pads and blueprint papers.

"_Hamada-san, ohayōgozaimasu!"_ Orochi greeted as he was passing by with a coffee in his hand, "Someone wanted to get started right away." He laughed. But Tadashi accidentally ignored him, deep in thought about the physics of such a creation. He wanted to make himself a pair of metal wings, or something of the sort. He needed to do the mathematics and science first. Weight, force, velocity, "_Hamada-san?"_ He finally heard Orochi's voice and turned around.

"Oh, Orochi. Sorry, I was thinking." He sheepishly admitted.

"Well, that's no secret. What are you planning; something for our next presentation?"

Tadashi's eyes lit up and he smiled, "I guess you could say that." Maybe if this creation was a success, Japan could finally know what Hamada-Daichi Corp really did. Maybe humans were truly meant to fly one day, robotically or not. Anything to make the public smile or sigh with awe. Something to fulfill not only his, but his mother and father's dreams as well.

And then maybe... Just maybe he could share this dream with his younger brother. Perhaps he could finally bond with him in a way he never imagined. Tadashi worked all day on sketches, formulas and designs. He wanted a wingset that strapped onto the shoulders and hooked just on the sides. An neurocranial transmitter would be used to the human could telepathically control how much force they wanted the wings to use, such as when lifting off or gliding. The wings would have microscopic pockets that could blow air to exert the air pressure. Tadashi was trying to model them after a bird's wings so it would be natural liftoff. The shape and ability to move the wings were necessary to.

Tadashi didn't care what he was getting himself into, he knew nothing was impossible if he set his mind to it. He had to keep leaving his blueprints to do other work and to supervise the assembly line. They wanted to make sure the numbers on the "Days Since Accident" sign kept increasing. He rolled up his numerous sketches and formulas and heald them together with a rubber band. Tadashi tucked them under his arm as he biked to his second job. It went by rather quickly since lots of teenagers were arriving from school since it was a Saturday afternoon. Sunday was their only day off every week.

He was wondering what Hiro was doing. Probably finishing his homework and then doing his chores so the afternoon could be all about them. When he got home earlier than usual, he could hear the vacuum cleaner on from outside the front door. Hiro's only chores were to wipe the counter tops, sweep the kitchen floors and make sure his own laundry was caught up. The two were compulsively neat with everything he did, so he only needed to vacuum at least once a week or every two weeks. The only exceptions were if they saw a bug or a cow ant; that meant something was amuck and the two couldn't stand the thought of a bug crawling onto their beds while they were sleeping (as it had happened before).

Tadashi could tell if Hiro had a battle with a bug or not; the house would smell like air freshener. He hated touching those gross things. He'd say to Tadashi, "I was a man about killing it. You be a man about picking it up!" and Tadashi would be the one who disposed of it. Hiro was truly whimsical sometimes; even thinking about that just then made the older brother snicker. He unlocked the door and walked in to see Hiro vacuuming the carpet in the living room. By the time Tadashi normally got home, Hiro was already done with whatever chores he had to do.

"Hello there _otouto_." He teased him with affection. Tadashi would always remind him that he was his _otouto_, and he kind of missed it when Hiro called him _onii-chan_. _That_ he wouldn't say out loud though.

"Hey! You _did_ get home early!" He unplugged the vacuum cleaner and let the chord retract itself into the machine.

"I made a promise, didn't I? Especially since you have a free evening." Hiro then immediately challenged him to _Killer Instinct_; fighting games were his favorite, he was better off at 2D fighting games, however. Tadashi accepted, knowing he'd get beaten. However, he told Hiro he wanted them to eat dinner together at the table instead of going off to their rooms like normal.

Within an hour and a half of wrapping them then pan-frying them, Tadashi introduced to him a plate of Gyoza, "Yummm~!" Hiro playfully sang, "Gyozaaa~!" Tadashi didn't remember the last time he'd seen his brother this cheerful, then he gasped, "They look beautiful!" Tadashi finally laughed before he took his bite.

"Man, someone's really happy about their food."

"I don't know. It's just been a good day. I don't have to do homework tonight, and... I don't know. Just a day where ya _feel_ good!" Hiro jokingly emphasized and Tadashi laughed some more.

"I know what you mean; I've been having the same day." Hiro raised his eyebrows as he chewed his food, "I got inspired on the way to work today and started planning out this great idea."

"Ah," Hiro said after swallowing, "The fancy robot stuff?" He grinned, "What are you making? A super secret weapon that'll save the world?"

"No, no." Tadashi picked up some rice with his bite of gyoza and continued after swallowing, "Just something I wanted to try, for human sake."

"Human sake?" Hiro thought this would be interesting, and Tadashi began to feel hopeful that he would join him in this invention, "Go on." He smiled.

"Okay... I am creating metallic..." Hiro's smile widened, "Mentally powered..." He rolled his hand urging him to finish, "Wings." Hiro's jaw-dropped smile stayed for a second until he processed the word.

"Wings..." He winced, "_Wings?_"

Tadashi dropped his chopsticks and pinched the bridge of his nose, "I know, it sounds..." He tried to find the right word criticizing his own invention, but Hiro finished his sentence for him.

"Ridiculous?"

"_Yes_..." He detested any harsh criticism of his thoughts, "But if I pan it out properly, I think this'll be a step in evolution."

"...Mechanical wings so we can fly." Hiro snorted, "The fact that we haven't developed wings yet says something, dontcha think?" Tadashi rolled his eyes, "Anyways, I'm sorry, I'm sorry." He sipped his milk, "It does sound really tedious though, are the people at the lab gonna help you?"

"Well, they don't exactly know about this yet. But if I finish the blueprints with all the scientific proof tonight, they just might consider it."

"Awesome!" Hiro cheered for his brother, "However, there is _one_ problem..." Tadashi raised a brow, "Wings aren't going to help you after I KICK YOUR BUTT!" He stood up, leaving his empty plate and sat in front of the couch, grabbing his controller. Tadashi shook his head and joined him, sitting on his brother's left side.

"Okay, I've never been so fond of these games, so are you gonna go easy?"

Hiro grinned sinisterly and pressed start, "Nope."

The two spent hours playing, the first of which consisted of Hiro trying to tell Tadashi how to play _as_ they were playing it. He laughed when he kept jumping or when he accidentally fell out the ring numerous times, "What the hell?!" Tadashi laughed after selecting a random character and getting _Jago_, "These people just... No one gets that muscular!"

"Get back in the corner!" Hiro cried when he literally pinned Tadashi's character to the end of the screen. When the clock soon ticked_PM11:23_, Hiro headed for the main stairs, yawning. They'd already laughed about how Tadashi failed to surpass his younger brother's skills, "You failed your challenge."

"Heh, going to bed?"

"Yeah, after I shower and all that. Night."

"Night." He was cleaning the kitchen and loading up the dishwasher so it would run over night. The two took turns unloading it. Tadashi felt warm knowing he'd made his brother so happy that night. Had they ever bonded like that? Probably not, all Tadashi knew was that Hiro was crazy about him as a kid. All those pictures of robots trying to help him, begging him to come outside and play, when he was just a toddler, he'd rush to him once he got down the stairs and hug his legs.

It was then during that reminiscing that he knew he had work to do. Tadashi went to the basement door and entered the code on the holographic keyboard that opened when the lock was powered up. It was installed a bit after Hiro's accident to keep the younger child out of harm's way. Even to this day Hiro didn't know the code, he had no interest in going down there anyway.

Tadashi shut the door behind him and went to the Hamada laptop where the program opened up to his last project; manufacturing specially designed armor for the _Baymax No. 343_. But now it was time for a new project. He laid out his blueprints and prepared for an all night's work.

It was his one desire. His lifelong desire; he wanted to fly.


	4. Nii-san and Otouto

That sunday morning, Tadashi had fallen asleep at the desk in the basement, his arms and head cushioned by the sketch pads, papers and his closed laptop. Everything was shut down, yet he continued to calculate the physics-part of the wings so that if he truly got to manufacture them, they would be ready to go. The basement door had been left open and Hiro noticed it. He walked down the stairs and for some reason he wasn't surprised to find his brother asleep there. He went behind him and shook his shoulder, "Tadashi?"

He jerked upright and gasped, startling Hiro, "Ah!"

"Whoa!" Hiro put his hand on his heart.

"That was a wake up call." Tadashi chuckled.

"Were you up all night?!"

Tadashi realized he had no excuse, he ruffled his own hair, "Uh... No?" He laughed, "I eventually dozed off," He organized the papers together, "But I think I finally got the initial designs down!"

Hiro leaned on the desk, "Your fancy robot stuff?"

Tadashi scoffed, "It's not 'fancy robot stuff'; this is important to me! I think with enough effort, we'll be able to defy gravity!" He then winced, "It's just that neurotransmitter we need to work."

"See, I have no idea what you're saying." Hiro noted, still too tired to process big words.

"Ugh, you know how birds fly?"

Hiro hoped this wasn't a trick question, he raised a brow, "Flapping their wings...?"

"Yes! But their wings work like muscles, they control them like how we tell our arms to work." He flexed his arm to emphasize what he was saying. Both brothers talked with their hands without realizing it. They were like stage actors, "I need to make a way so our minds can just order these mechanized wings to push air-"

"Okay, okay!" Hiro's mind was boggled, "Before we get into the daily discussion of science, can we have breakfast first?" Tadashi gave up and joined him upstairs. He continuously told Hiro he wasn't giving up on this idea. After all the things he'd seen his parents create, this should be easier than most! But despite how important it was to him, Tadashi knew it was worthless to Hiro. Well, not _entirely_ worthless. Whatever insterested Tadashi interested Hiro, as children anyways. How Hiro viewed their family business and robotics now made Tadashi regret not letting him help him when they were younger.

Mostly because of the accident and realizing seeing his little brother get hurt was absolutely horrifying. That was the main reason to it, because otherwise, he was more than willing to take a break to kick a soccer ball around with Hiro in the backyard. Hiro was much more talented with it than Tadashi; kicking it up and bouncing it off of his knees and head. Tadashi was lucky if the ball would go in the direction he kicked it. He'd embarassed himself so much during their ball games that Hiro would fall onto the grass laughing. But he loved his little brother's laugh, despite Hiro hated it. He thought he sounded dorky.

Hiro even once opened up to Tadashi about how he was a self-proclaimed 'dork.' He even had a slight gap-tooth in which Tadashi pointed out was inherited from their mother and that he should be proud. Tadashi convinced him his gap-toothed smile was hardly noticeable and that he was adorable. This was around the time he'd first entered middle school. That time was especially difficult for poor Hiro; luckily Tadashi had already gone through those awkward years and had all the answers to his 'embarassing' questions he was afraid to ask their parents.

Tadashi thought Hiro was lucky he at least _had_ someone; Tadashi was too embarassed by his strange changes in emotions as well as his sudden voice-cracks and growth spurts. All he had was the guidance counselor, at least his pre-teen self thought that was all he had. If he were more mature he would've gone to his parents. Tadashi always felt Hiro was emotionally maturing more quickly than he had; always going to him for advice. Especially the year before their parents died, Hiro had just started developing an interest in girls. He had his first real crush that year, the first girl he wanted to lock lips with. Her name however, was long forgotten. At age twelve, when Hiro made his first close female friend, around the same time Tadashi did, Atsushi and Kamiko laid down the same laws they had with Tadashi: no dating until they are eighteen.

Neither Hiro nor Tadashi cared about dating anyways, not then anyway. However, that was the year Tadashi once skipped class to take a 'female friend' to the park, until he realized that he was jeopardizing his parents' trust. He quickly reverted back to his old self. However, that one girl, who Hiro honestly could not think of her name, other than the fact it started with an 'M', made Hiro feel so warm and happy in a way he didn't understand yet. Tadashi told him it was normal hormonal changes and that he was starting to like girls.

Despite his little brother never admitted it, Tadashi had a feeling he'd already been kissed. At least he wasn't the only one to go against their parents' wished just _once_. He remembered only a year ago their father was trying to call Hiro down for dinner but he wouldn't leave his room. Kamiko checked on him and, not even a minute later, asked for Tadashi to go see him. He opened the door to see his brother... perfectly fine. Laying on his back on his bed, tossing their old soccer ball up in the air repeatedly.

"You're not coming to dinner?"

"Not hungry." He replied with a heavenly smile. He was in his own little world and Tadashi smirked.

"What's got you so happy?" Hiro asked him what he meant, and he stepped in and closed the door, "Come on, what's the deal?" He tried to get him to spill. The siblings vowed that whatever they said to each other was confidential. Hiro clearly wasn't listening and Tadashi rolled over in his brother's office chair and stole the ball from him before he could catch it, "_Otouto..._" He grinned, finally getting his attention.

"Nothing. Can't I just be in a good mood?" Hiro scooted up in his bed a little so he was against the bed frame.

"I'm saying, you've been like this since you got home!" They both got home at separate times; Tadashi rode his bike home and was released earlier than Hiro's school. Hiro took the bus to school and back, "You didn't say a word to anyone." He had curiosity and excitement in his tone, "Come onnn~" He stretched his words. Hiro lied flat on his back and used his hands to support his head.

"I don't know. Just... Today was a fantastic day."

"What made it fantastic?" Tadashi asked as he tried to spin the ball on his finger, only to fail every time. Hiro just kept grinning and wouldn't answer. He shrugged his shoulders.

"Can you hand me back the ball?"

Tadashi went to hand it over, but tugged it out of reach when Hiro went to take it, "Is it that girl you've been hanging out with?"

Hiro's attitude remained unchanged and he kept his hand out, "The ball, Tadashi." Finally comprehending his stubborn brother wasn't going to talk, he did as told and left the room. He bet Hiro was tossing the ball going 'she loves me, she loves me not.' Even so, Tadashi (and their parents) didn't think thirteen was an age to understand "love." _Fourteen_ still wasn't an age to understand it, at least that's what Tadashi and Hiro were raised to think. Who cared anyway? Even though Tadashi was at their parents' ideal dating age and Hiro was more mature than he was then, girls were the least of their concerns; _far_ at the bottom of their priorities, especially after losing their mother and father.

Tadashi brought his sketch book and other papers upstairs with him and organized them on the dining room table, much to Hiro's dismay, "Really? I said _after_ breakfast!" He opened the fridge, searching up and down for something easy to heat up.

"I'm just doing some last adjustments!" He made marks with his pencil and then dropped it on the wooden table, "Done!"

"_Arigato!_" Hiro said sarcastically, sometimes feeling like _he_ was the older sibling keeping Tadashi in check. They eventually found some easy meals they could throw in the microwave and not have to keep their empty stomachs. They were lucky that despite some of the unhealthy stuff they could only afford to eat, metabolism was on their sides. Tadashi joked about how scrawny Hiro was, but Hiro would rebuttle, saying Tadashi was only as strong as he was because of all the lifting and such he had to do at Hamada-Daichi Corp.

As they were sitting on the couch watching literally whatever was on, Tadashi kept glancing at Hiro as they were eating, Hiro bored out of his mind with the television. For some reason days like this especially made Tadashi feel guilty; why couldn't he spend time with him as easily as he did now when they were kids. He was used to walking downstairs and their parents would already have been keeping Hiro in company. For some reason, Hiro still cheerfully greeted Tadashi in the mornings back then. Not quite as enthusiastically as he did as a child; he remembered that squeaky laugh, running from their mother's arms and hugging his legs, "_Onii-chan! Come play with me!_" He'd beg. Sometimes he was just so cute he couldn't resist. That cutsey nickname, not realizing he should correctly call him _Nii-san_. It was probably his own fault Hiro didn't refer to him affectionately anymore; he didn't deserve enough respect to be his _Nii-san_.

Tadashi wasn't sure what was worse during their mourning for their parents; the pain of losing them, or rejecting his brother's time even more when they needed each other's comfort. Let alone their very presence. Why had he been so mean to him? Maybe he was just so scared after seeing the careless toddler eleven years ago hurt himself because of _his_ passion. Perhaps it was best to leave him out of the Hamada-Daichi Corp business for now... But that didn't mean he had to keep him out of his personal life.

Hell, Hiro _was_ his personal life! "Hey, _otouto_." Hiro glanced at him with his big fawn eyes, generally disinterested in what he had to say, expecting more about the flight suit, "Since it's both our day off today... Why don't we go do something? You and me?" This was the best part, watching his brother light up and change his attitude completely.

Two days in a row he wanted to hang out with him?! He must've done something right the other day. Hiro swallowed his breakfast quickly and nodded, "Yeah! Like what?"

"That's what I was thinking."

"Well, we can just hang out around Tokyo, or to the skate park... you know how to skate, right?"

Tadashi snorted, "You just want to see me fall off and hurt myself don't you?"

Hiro snickered, "Well, that would just be a bonus!"

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**Souls_&_Swords: A chapter about brother fluff! Who doesn't like some brother fluff? I felt the need to explain their relationship some more but still saying relevant to the current story. Hope you liked it regardless considering I have no idea how brothers interact. I'm also so sorry it's short.**


	5. Defying Gravity

**Souls_&_Swords: PLEASE READ: Sorry for taking a while! This particular chapter set up was inspired by _冰心鎖 _(Cantonese version of _Let it Go _from "Frozen") I don't know why that one made me think of this instead of the Japanese one. I included the lyrics from said song to create a scene with it. :) Sorry for this HUGE author's note. This chapter was difficult and I hope you like it (and the song!)**

* * *

The siblings had not done much that day other than bike through Tokyo and do some serious junk food shopping. But it didn't matter as long as they were together. Still, completing the task of scaling Mt. Fuji was in the back of Tadashi's mind all day, blaming the fact they could see the stratovolcano everywhere they went that day. Tadashi knew an appropriate time to present his work was that next day, Monday when Hiro was in school. He'd refrained from mentioning his work _once_ that day. After all, he'd promised a siblings' day.

But the next day, just after packing Hiro's lunch and leaving a plate of breakfast for him, he hurried to Hamada-Daichi Corp with all of his paperwork in hand. He organized them at his desk as Orochi greeted him, sipping a cup of caffeinated tea, "Morning, _Hamada-san_."

Tadashi wiped the sleep dust from his eyes, "Morning _Daichi-kun_." Tadashi had forgotten to use formal talk, Orochi clearly knew he must be tired.

"Someone must've been up working late!"

"Heh." Tadashi chuckled, guilty, "Yeah, the little bro kept me up late." He got his papers together, "And I have something to show you all today."

"Ooh." Orochi feigned interst, "Better alert the others that there's gonna be a meeting." The eighteen-year-old shook his head.

"It's not for the robot race, _Orochi-san_, this is for the human race!" He watched his co-cheif change attitudes, for he stopped to stare at him mid-sip. It was half an hour before noon that everyone was in the under-ground facilities with all the advanced technologies Japan had little of. Tadashi already organized a holographic presentation with all his writings and basic 3D-designs.

"We've been evolving since the beginning of time, and while it's taken us a while, I think it's time to speed up." He referred to their newest _Baymax_ model, "Look, we think he's got everything; A strong build, armor, weapons hidden on his entire being... But he's missing one thing!" Tadashi then pulled up his sketch-drawings of metallic, eagle-like wings. Instead of going 'ooh' and 'ahh' like he'd hoped, his co-workers all just stared with deadpan faces, "It seems strange, but remember how many airforce attacks happened back during the World Wars? Sure, we might have better fighter jets, but think! These can be controlled telepathically, and the wings would be entirely in _our_ control... Er, if we were to equip them. We could protect our country head on!"

No one was saying anything, they just kept looking at the intricate design and scatched their chins. Abashed, Tadashi gave the command to close the holographic presentation. The room lights automatically clicked back on. Tadashi had _hopes_ he could make his family proud and change the Hamada-Daichi Corp name; make it something the country could finally know about. Orochi was the only one to clap. He came to the poor young man's rescue and walked to the front of the crowd, "Wonderful! Excellent! Now then, while we're all taking this in, we should all get back to our work." He was able to send them away, he then watched the disappointed Tadashi gather his files together.

"I'm sorry _Hamada-san_, they're just not ready for this kind of progression."

"It's not a progression." Tadashi explained, "It's a dream I have." He said metaphorically, rather than going into his literal sense, "Ever since I was a child, I've dreamt of flying. Always hoping that one day, I could scale Mt. Fuji soaring like an eagle. Have wings that I can trust, they'll never falter."

Orochi smirked and patted his shoulder, "I see..." He nodded his head, "I was thinking, well, for the neurotransmitter I mentioned, perhaps we could use them to control the microbots within the machine." His co-manager raised a brow.

"Microbots?"

"Yes, well..." Tadashi unrolled one of his sketches, showing the tiny mechanics, "They're literally the tiny chips inside the wings that we can control, so they know when to release air pressure and when to let us free fall. You know, like pretend telepathy." Orochi was handed the sketch and observed it with great interst.

"I see..."

Tadashi shrugged and took it back, "Well, I see now that perhaps it's another invention for another time. The next Hamada generation I suppose."

"Well, Tadashi, I can see that this is no longer a childish ambition, but a new scientific revelation." He'd caught the young adult's attention, "You put more thought into this than I can imagine, the physics, the sketches, you've practically created telepathy!" His encouraging words began to lift the teenager's spirits, "Don't give up, _Hamada-san!_" He patted his shoulder, "Catch that dream. Defy gravity."

He left upstairs, giving Tadashi a new resolution. A new hope. Hiro was at the table doing his homework when Tadashi arrived home, "Hey, Tadashi." He mumbled, not even looking up from his Advanced Placement Calculus homework. The fourteen-year-old however, noticed his brother didn't even respond as he went to the fridge, "Tadashi?"

He closed the door and looked at his _otouto_, "Oh hey Hiro. Sorry, didn't notice ya."

The young teenager scratched his head, "I can see that. How was work?"

"Fine, fine." Tadashi seemed anxious, he passed his brother again, opening his Pocari soda. Hiro became worried and dropped his pencil.

"Tadashi, you okay?"

He was too busy thinking about that volcano that mocked him, those papers needing to be made into something real. He sat on the couch and mindlessly turned on the television, "Yeah, why?"

"You just seem very... Spazzed." The brazen _otouto_ ironically said.

Tadashi then realized he needed not just to fulfill his _own_ dream, but to keep a promise. He had two resolutions. Tadashi turned to his brother, "Hiro, I promise from now on, we're going to be inseparable!" Hiro's eyes widened, both liking the idea and questioning it at the same time, "We're going to be brothers for real!" That night in the Land of the Rising Sun, while Hiro was asleep, knocked out from his busy school-day, Tadashi lied awake in his room. He knew if he'd fall asleep, he'd have that dream again and wake up with his heart racing.

He needed to start now instead of putting it off yet again. He ran downstairs into the basement and flicked the light on. Tadashi opened up the laptop and began to draw on the holographic screen that commanded the engineerical-machines.

_Hánfēng bīngshān jiāng xīnwō dōu lěngdòng_  
_bīngshān bīng fēng fǎng shì mèng_

Tadashi had been awake all night, making a full set of armor for himself; the only thing he had to physically put on was a red, right-hand gaunlet. When he tapped the key, it conjured a full suit of armor. Red body wear, black boots and at last, the silver-eagle like wings with smooth edges.

_jiù xiàng duòluò zài shìjiè wài_  
_fàngyǎn xuěshān yīpiàn kōng_

Tadashi had fallen asleep on the couch, Hiro noticed, but instead of saying goodbye, he just shook his head and left. He knew he couldn't risk any injuries, so he grabbed a bike helmet. He told Orochi he'd be 'busy' with blueprints that week and went into a closed nature park, going off trail where he was alone.

_zhèn zhèn lěngfēng pūmiàn cì tòng tiānjì luàn pèng_

Tadashi felt uneasy. He had the chip clipped to his head so that the microbots could hear his commands. Still, he doubted himself, lingering on a silly dream.

_cǐkè xīn gèng huāng jīnghuāng rǎo wǒ mèng_

But recurring dreams meant something, didn't they?

_shuí céng quàn wǒ táolí xīn mó bù rě fēnzhēng wéi píng shànyì fǔzhù_

Tadashi was going to do this, he rushed until there was a clearing from the trees around him.

_máicáng yǐwǎng yíwàng dāngchū _

He looked into the sky...

_yíwàng zìwǒ_

Tadashi closed his eyes and silently commanded, "Fly."

Before he could process what had happened, and much to his own fright, Tadashi's wings bursted air pressure, forcing him to become airborne.

"Whoa! Whoa!"

_wàngdiào nà wúxíng suǒ wǒ cáinéng wánquán shì wǒ_

Tadashi wasn't sure where he was going, but he couldn't get the smile off of his face, shocked they weren't drenched with tears. He tried to steady himself, repeating 'stabilize' over and over.

_shuí yì yào suíxīn gē shuí yuàn xiànluò yú xīn suǒ_

He positioned himself upright and was able to thrust himself forward, though in a forceful and awkward manner.

_bùbì jiǎng pángrén xiū dé guǎn wǒ_  
_wǒ jùjué xiéhé _

Tadashi looked at the clouds, they were suddenly so much closer than ever before! He tossed himself left and right, going sideways briefly but steadied himself, not used to being... Well, in the sky! Just as he stopped to admire the beauty and epiphany, he realized he wasn't commanding the microbots anymore and suddenly fell.

_zìxìn lěngkù yě wèibì shāng dào wǒ_

Still, he smiled. It was the most incredible event ever in his life. That night, he was with Hiro. While he was finishing his homework, he was sipping a strawberry Ramune soda bottle, but didn't realize he'd finished it. Before he could grab it to take another sip, Tadashi had slipped behind him and replaced it with a new one without his brother even noticing.

_dāngchū jīngtiān de yīqiè rújīn dōu biàn lànní_

Tadashi made that night all about his _otouto_, which wasn't a problem at all. Hiro enjoyed it even more than he was. Tadashi was wondering if he'd call him _onii-chan_ again, but that wouldn't happen.

_fánwén gòng lǜ lì yě shīqù wǎngxī yībān tiān wēi_

Tadashi wasn't more excited for Hiro to say goodnight, however, because that meant he could work on his wings even more! Tadashi made a helmet with his neurocranial transmitter, making the connection and commands more frequent, and better protection. It even had a see-through face guard! Now he only had two pieces of equipment he had to physically put on.

_huítóu kàn wǒ rúhé fāhuī shì chōngpò fǎ guī yǔ tiānjì  
____quán wú jìnzhì wàngjì chángguī xiànzhì_

Hiro was starting to notice Tadashi was sleeping in more bizarre places. When the fourteen-year-old walked downstairs to go to school, he saw his brother sleeping... as if he tried to crawl up the stairs of the basement, opened the door, and passed out. Not even _wanting_ to know, Hiro placed a pillow under his brother's head and hurried out the door.

Tadashi woke up _more _than ready. He instead went to lake Kawaguchi, where there was much more open area for him and prepared himself, aware that no one else was around.

"Fly!"

_wàngdiào nà wúxíng suǒ qù yòu lái áng rán'ér zìwǒ_  
_shuí yì yào suíxīn gē wàngdiào zuótiān bēigē_

He indeed flew. He flew stomach-down towards the earth and straight over the lake, causing huge ripples. Tadashi had better focus; just think it, and it'll happen. He launched himself stright up, some birds joined him and went a little higher. Tadashi then let go for a second and let himself free fall, saving himself just before impact.

Why? Because he **could.**

_wǒ shì shuí quánxīn de wǒ_

Tadashi watched the birds fly towards Mt. Fuji. He reached his hand out and grasped the gorgeous summit. It was so much closer than before. But he knew he had to be ready. Just like he did in his dream, he'd know he was ready.

_yào jùjué xiéhé_

Tadashi ran through the woods, taking off his helmet and tapping the key on his forearm so the body would disassemble back into the gaunlet and hurried home. It was nearly sunset!

Tadashi, without warning, busted into Hiro's room, scaring the poor boy, "Hey! Hey, Hiro!" He said wildly. The young boy said nothing and glanced at him, confused and worried, "Wuddya doin'? Homework?" Hiro nodded his head, questioning his brother's spastic behavior and the fact he sounded like he ran a mile, or a hundred, "You want somethin' to eat?! Because I can-" Before Hiro let him finish, he held up a takeout meal wrapped in a cartridge. He eventually wondered if Tadashi was ever coming home.

A little ashamed that he wasn't even home to eat dinner with his little brother, he gritted his teeth, "Ooh... Sorry, but hey!" He quickly perked up, "I'll make it up to ya! I'll make your favorite meal tomorrow night!" He'd even lost track of the week; work is usually what kept him on track, "What's tomorrow?"

Hiro was scared to say anything, "...Friday?"

"Friday! Okay, Friday night is Hiro's favorite meal night! Well, goodnight!" Tadashi slammed the door, leaving Hiro worrying and worrying. He'd finally cracked, he thought. The eighteen-year-old sighed with relief. For once he could sleep in his own bed that week.

_wǒ yòng wǒ nénglì zòu chū bīng tiān de zàngē_

Yet, he stared out the window before falling asleep, he knew his work wasn't finished.  
_wǒ nèilǐ cángzhe qiánlì fān chū bù shì de fēngbō_  
_kànzhe wǒ qián lù biànsè bīng fēng qiānlǐ duō_

He was in the forest at the foot of Mt .Fuji... Tadashi stared at it as a small human being for the last time, that dream would return no more. For it would be a reality.

_chuǎng xīn tiān yīgè wǒ zài bu yào lánzhù wǒ_

"Fly."

_fàngqì ba wúxíng suǒ_  
_zàidù límíng cóngtóu huóguò _

Tadashi bursted through the leaves and headed straight above earth, the winds pelting his mask and body all at once, but he relented. Tadashi would spin himself to keep the momentum and pace going, sometimes darting side to side.

_shuí yì yào suíxīn gē __wú yòng bì kāi xīn mó _

He knew that for most, it took days to scale Mt. Fuji. But not for him. He didn't even realize it, but after one last spin, he was hovering over the snow-capped peak. He was so filled with adrenaline, he didn't even feel the elevation change nor the cold. All he could feel was his heart racing and his stomach dropping.

_wǒ shì shuí huányuán yú xīn huǒ_

Tadashi wanted to pull his hair, but it was covered by the helmet. He simply scratched at the metal with disbelief and realized what had finally happened.

_wǒ fàngrèn hánfēng _

He was at the top of the Land of the Rising Sun.

_zìxìn lěngkù lěngmò shāng bù dào wǒ_


	6. You Know What To Do

Tadashi's orgasmic experience above the clouds still wasn't over when he snuck home late at night. The helmet tucked under his arm and the gaunlet deactivated on his right hand were a reminder of all the hard work he'd pressed hours into. Adrenaline still dashed through his veins, he could barely unlock the front door to his quaint home. Surely Hiro was waiting for him; he'd accidentally neglected coming home on time to help with dinner. Hiro was independant, surely he was smart enough to order take out.

Tadashi crept up the tall stairs and cracked his brother's door open to see that Hiro was passed out at his desk, a mound of papers cushioning his head. Poor kid must've knocked himself out working so hard. Tadashi felt bad that he wasn't home to help. That's when he began to wonder if Hiro even noticed that he never came home; probably figured he was at Hamada-Daichi all day. Tadashi picked up a blanket that was sliding off of his _otouto's_ bed and put it over him as a shawl. Hiro stirred and muttered unintelligibly in his sleep. Tadashi could've sworn he heard something about monkeys. He snickered and snuck out of Hiro's bedroom.

Tadashi proudly placed his red helmet on his nightstand and removed the gaunlet, treating it as a glove and tossed it on his desk. He was sure he wouldn't be doing anything exciting for a while. Not after today. The day he was reborn. Tadashi Hamada was reborn, flying high above Mount. Fuji. He could go to sleep that night knowing he wouldn't have that pipe dream again. It was a glorious feeling. Yet for some reason, Tadashi _still_ felt a modest emptiness inside. He didn't want to ponder why; it would bring back painful memories. Yet he did so anyway, it was probably because his parents would never see the breakthrough he'd made. Or that Hiro wasn't interested enough that he could share his accomplishment with him. Tadashi remembered when his _otouto_ used to admire his every being, copy his every move. When he was his loyal lieutenant.

He had nobody to blame but himself that they weren't as close as they could've been. Always rejecting him, rarely volunteering to spend time with him. Tadashi wouldn't expect that sooner in life, being the only person he has left, he wished he were closer with Hiro. Yet he was sure Hiro had moved on from that time. Tadashi still couldn't get that event out of his head; the night Hiro nearly killed himself. Being only three at the time, Tadashi should recognize that eleven years was a long while to learn from that mistake. He wondered if Hiro even remembered it.

All that counted for Tadashi was that _he_ remembered it. And he didn't want to relive that horrid moment in which he thought he'd lost what could've been his future best friend. He never anticiapted loosing his parents; no one usually does. Tadashi reminded himself how lucky he was; had Hiro accidentally killed himself then ten years later the lab accident... Tadashi would be alone. And the worst part, it would've been all his fault.

...

"Tadashi." Hiro pushed on his brother's arm, "Get up. I made breakfast."

The half-asleep eighteen-year-old moaned, "Shouldn't you be at school?" He asked in a deadpan voice.

"It's Sunday." Hiro raised a brow, what the hell had his brother so exhausted, "What the hell have you been doing all week anyway...?" He noticed the red cyclist-looking helmet that had a face protector sitting on his nightstand. That explained everything, "Nevermind." He went for the door, "Just don't get up so late, it's eleven!"

"What are you talking about?" Tadashi yawned as the fourteen-year-old closed the door, "I've been awake for..." He started to drift off again, "Hours..." Still sitting upright, barely holding his head up, he started to doze. Hiro bolted the door back open, "'I'M UP! I'M UP!" Tadashi's head jerked back upright. They were both at the couch for breakfast, slurping on miso soup.

"So what's that fancy project you've been so busy with?" Tadashi tried to avoid answering by slurping on his soup, but realized there was nothing left in the bowl, "Tadashi?" Hiro wasn't interrogating, his eyes were fixed on the television as he talked.

"Uh-uh." He set the bowl down, "Just some blueprints and new models for our drones."

"Okay."

"And uh... Some wings for the flight suits."

"That's ni-" Hiro stopped in between his sentence and processed his words, "You actually made them?!" Tadashi was surprised by his brother's impressed tone.

"Yeah. I told you I was serious, didn't I."

"No way! Like, they can actually fly?" What did he mean 'they?' He raised a brow and the younger brother clarified, "The robots?! Are they cool? How high can they go? Are they fast or is it just like hovering?" The brazen young man could've kept going before Tadashi told him to slow down.

"It's not for the robots, it's for..." He wondered if he would disappoint his _otouto_ with how excited he looked, he told him to hurry up instead of keeping him in suspense, "Humans..." Tadashi's face sank and Hiro went from giddy to... Well, his usual indifference.

"Humans..." He didn't compute, "Like 'you and me humans' or-"

"Hiro, yes! Humans!" Hiro's curiosity ceased and he breathed out, but Tadashi tried to egg out his opinion, "Well, wuddya think?"

"You done with your soup?" The fourteen-year-old grabbed his and his _Nii-san_'s breakfast bowls and slouchily staggered to the sink, but Tadashi quickly followed.

"_Otouto,_ come on. This is what our ancestors started!" His brother ignored him as he washed the bowls out, but the eighteen-year-old pressed on, "The Hamadas were meant to continue the evolution of technology; accelerate it!"

"That's all you care about." Hiro's frustration came out word by word, fire swelled in his chest and stomach, but Tadashi didn't quite understand. He raised his voice to show _who_ had top authority around there.

"_Nani?" _He hissed.

"Allyoucareaboutisyourstupidwork!" Hiro mushed his words together so quickly that he prayed that Tadashi didn't understand what he'd just mumbled, but he had to go on, "You never do things to help the company! Just for your own personal benefit! We make technology for _drones!_ Or _airplanes!_ Or shit like that! You waste your time doing stuff for _you_ instead of spending time..." Hiro bit his tongue, he had to stop there.

"Spending time what?" Tadashi eased up a little, hoping kindness would win his brother's energy again. But Hiro said nothing and turned to the clock.

"Don't you have a job to get to?"

"Oh Shit!" Tadashi forgot; he was due back to work that day. Putting the argument aside, or what was about to become an argument, Tadashi rushed on some more professional-looking clothes and hopped on his bike. He hurried out of the city and towards the closed area the coorperation was. Everything seemed normal, he was sure Orochi and the others would greet the current owner of Hamada-Daichi Corp with joy and enthusiasm, eager to see his new work. Oh he prayed that they would excitedly embrace his breakthrough with open arms, soon humans could gladly lift themselves off the ground and fly where the birds did. The sky was no longer the limit; it was their destination.

Blueprints and papers with his results in hand, Tadashi was shaking when he got into the elevator up to the main office area, when he heard the bell ring and the doors slid open, he saw everyone in a rut with Orochi trying to settle everyone down. Silence flew through the room as soon as Tadashi took a step outside the elevator. What the hell was going on? "_Hamada-san!_" Orochi shouted, utterly thankful at his presence, everyone chattered while he dragged him over.

"_Daichi-san_, what's happening?"

"Our lab's been vandilized."

Tadashi's eyes glazed over with fear and he dropped all of his papers, they weren't important anymore, "What?!"

"It's true!" A woman shouted, "Someone knows about our true professions!"

"There was a gaping hole in the cieling of the basement, some equipment was missing!"

"And files!"

Everyone was talking over each other, Tadashi pulled at his hair. He was only gone a few days! How could so much have gone so wrong? Oh god, if only he'd been there to make sure everything was locked up or secured correctly. Maybe it would've happened anyway. Oh god, his parents wouldn't have let this happen. The eighteen-year-old felt unfaithful to the Hamada family line. Orochi grabbed his arm and pulled him aside, away from the chaos, "_Hamada-san_." He took him into the filing room where he shut the door and closed the blinds, "Something happened with those wings of yours."

Tadashi jerked his head upright and looked Orochi in the eyes; eyes full of disbelief, "My wings?"

"The microbots. Someone figured out their capabilities and used them to chew through the chains of our buildings. There's no trace fo them. All of our equipment is useless without those microbots."

"But... My wings only use them to command the air pressures and direction! How could those be hostile?"

"Someone's using the same neurocranial communications _you_ did! Who knows what someone could do with power like that?!"

Tadashi didn't understand. But if power fell into the wrong hands... A power he'd given someone the opportunity to steal. The Hamada family name would be tarnished by a Hamada himself... Tadashi was to blame. He swiped his hand down his face, he was sweating from the nerves and guilt. Daichi opened the door behind him, "If you see something suspicious, you know what to do." Orochi went to restore order in the office building and left Tadashi to take in everything he'd just heard. The young adult could barely stand, his knees were wobbly.

At that moment, Tadashi _needed_ his father's guidance or advice, or his mother's gentle reassurance. He needed his family, he needed... He wanted to hear Hiro's voice so badly at that moment that he debated calling the fourteen-year-old from the office phone less than ten feet away from him. Tadashi was never one to succumb to his pride. With shaky hands he went to call his messy-haired, brown-eyed younger brother when he remembered he was mad at him. Finally, his hesitaions faded and he dialed the house number, each ring made the anxiety build up more and more. Oh God, did Hiro even know the company's number? He'd still maybe answer...

The ringer kept going off, but when he finally heard the "Hello?" His heart leapt.

"Hiro!"

"Tadashi? What do you want?" He asked, not noticing the panic in his tone. He couldn't admit his mistakes, not to his little brother. With what little respect he earned from him, how could he possibly sink any farther in Hiro's eyes? Tadashi froze, his throat closed, "Hello?" Hiro was getting impatient, the older brother couldn't handle the guilt anymore; he stretched the phone chord as long as it could, sitting on the ground, "Tadashi, what is it?"

"_Gomen'nasai_..._" _He mumbled under his breath, but Hiro had heard the word perfectly, every syllable.

"What?"

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry for the way I've treated you." It was so much easier to say when they weren't face-to-face, "I just want to live up to our parent's expectations... I want to be the amazing big brother you used to think I am." Hiro kept quiet on the other end, but in his heart and eyes, he was completely touched. Touched, yet baffled.

"Tadashi, what's wrong? Did something happen?"

"_Onii-chan._" Tadashi thought aloud, thinking about their childhood just eleven years ago, before their distance as brothers increased, Hiro remained puzzled until the eighteen-year-old continued, "You used to call me _Onii-chan_... That was when you respected me. Even _then_ I didn't deserve it. I just treated you like my whiny _otouto_."

Hiro grinned, "I'm still your whiny _otouto_." He chuckled, Tadashi was tearing up from the stress on the other end, but it was disguised with a smile even Hiro could see, "Look, it's nothing okay? I guess we just need to communicate our feelings more." The fourteen-year-old was wise beyond his years and he didn't even know it. Perhaps even more wise than Tadashi. They hadn't spend enough time together to realize it yet, "I'm gonna get some chores done, I'll see you when you get home, okay?"

Tadashi, still with a remorseful heart, nodded his head, "Okay."

Hiro didn't really _want_ to say it... But at the sound of his brother's vulnerability, he knew he had to, "I love you, _Nii-san_." Tadashi's eyes swelled with sudden tears of joy, "Now stop being such a baby and get to work." He hung up before he started laughing. Tadashi's tragedy was downgraded thanks to his brother's comfort. He didn't realize it until now how much he _needed_ Hiro.

How Hiro was his wings. Perhaps, the wind beneath his wings.


	7. Phantom

Tadashi's day would've been busier had he not been so perplexed about the robbery of high-end equipment, he kept zoning out at his desk, thinking about his role conflict; he was a failure as a posthumous son, a brother, and now as a manager of his own family's corporation. He didn't notice everybody checking out that evening, for he'd gone into his tenth or eleventh episode of achievement-contemplation. He jumped up when he felt a hand press firmly on his shoulder, "_Hamada-san._" Orochi alerted him, "It's closing time. We can't call in security because then they'd know about our work." He shook his head, "I guess we'll have to wait it out. Maybe he got what he wanted and he's not coming back."

Orochi optimistically shrugged and walked away, but Tadashi needed to redeem himself; he'd been so preoccupied with his wings that he neglected one of his more important duties. It then flickered in his head what he should do, "_Daichi-san, matte!_" The young man hollered and rushed behind him, "We can't risk losing life-lines of work here! Japan could be in trouble if they know how to use such equipment."

"Probably just some teenagers using it for their underground fight clubs." Orochi was pleading that his thoughts would become reality and everything would go back to normal, but the strong eighteen-year-old turned him around and looked into his eyes.

"But it could be worse!" There was a beat of silence, the others had left in hopes that nothing would happen that night. Tadashi simmered down, "If it comes to it, I'll stay here tonight."

"Tadashi-"

"No! I'm responsible for this, my great-great-great-"

"Get to the point..." Orochi slid his hand down his face. Tadashi cringed.

"...late relative founded this place in hopes of protecting Japan, not harming it. If someone wants to break this chain, then I'll be the one to stop it!"

Orochi admired his tenacity, but was already aware of the many responsibilities the poor man was already juggling, "I can see you're resiliant, but what about your brother?"

Tadashi was hoping he'd have until _later_ to worry about it, "He's fourteen... One night alone shouldn't hurt. Hiro's in a safe neighborhood!" He reassured both himself and Orochi, "He'd stayed home alone until midnight once-!"

"Tadashi-Tadashi..." Orochi sighed, "You're right, he's a good kid... He has you as a role model." The co-manager brought a smile to Tadashi's lips and with one more pat on the shoulder, Orochi left the main light on for him and headed for the door, "The emergency lights are nearby! We went over how to use them, should we have to."

"Alright!" It would then occur to Tadashi that for hours on end until daylight, he'd be alone in the darkness of his office... Perhaps he should've thought this through. No matter, he made a committment to his work and family! He couldn't go back on his word... Still, Tadashi had been making so many promises he couldn't keep to either him or his parents... Or Hiro.

He ignored his guilt and called in sick to his second job. That was a piece of cake, but the real difficulty would be calling Hiro and telling him he wouldn't be home that night... How does one tell their younger brother that they're breaking yet another promise in a short amount of time? Well, it was too little too late; he couldn't go back on his word now. He reluctantly dialed the number and waited for Hiro to pick up, who assumed he was just now heading to his second job and wanted to update him, "Hello?"

"Hey, _otouto..._ hey..."

Hiro raised a brow, he knew that tone of voice. Whenever Tadashi was nervous, he acted more relaxed than usual; it was easy to tell it was unnatural, "Hey? What's going on? You at work?"

"Yeah, everything's fine now that I'm over the initial shock." Tadashi forced a chuckle, but it only made him look even more suspicious.

"Yeah..." Hiro didn't even hide that he wasn't buying it, "I know you're still upset, it's okay Tadashi." He tried to ease him, but the older brother was only thinking at how upset _he_ was going to be in a few moments.

"Ahem." He cleared his throat that was closing up from nerves, "Well, I..."

"We can talk about it when you get home, you'll feel better by then."

Fuck!

"Hiro, eh-I..."

Was he fucking kidding him...? Hiro's heart sank into his stomach and let loose a hellscaped inferno. He held in his breath as well as he could, "You what?"

"I..." Tadashi shut his eyes, "I'm staying overnight to see if I catch anyone."

...

...

There was a long pause, the two wondered if one another had died because it was so silent. Tadashi, though his hands were shaking, tried to check, "Hello-?"

_BeepBeepBeep_

The three-noted dial tone signaled that Hiro had slammed the phone shut and that Tadashi failed yet again. He may as well head down to the scene of the crime and wait for a sign. As he walked around, toying with and observing all the miscelaneous equipment and weaponry, Tadashi remembered the promise he'd made... The last promise to his parents.

It was a year ago when Hiro was still taking his martial arts classes, back when they could afford it money and time-wise. It was a tournament for third-degree blackbelts for a gold cup, Hiro was one of the younger kids in his class, but they treated him like a well-skilled fighter just as they all were. Hiro was anxiously scanning the opposing team, worrying about when he'd be picked and whom against! Still, he was comforted to look into the crowd and see Atsushi and Kimiko watching him. He waved and Kimiko happily responded, until he looked away, "Where's Tadashi?!" The seat next to her's was vacant; she, Atsushi, and Hiro all knew.

"He's a busy student, probably stayed a while after to finish up at robotics club!"

"He better not miss this!" The beautiful mother of two clasped her hands together.

"Relax," The laid-back father assured, "It's not even started, he's probably on his way right now!"

Boy was he wrong; Tadashi at the time let the thought completely slip. He was too distracted by his work on perfecting rocket-cannoned gaunlets on his Hamada-Daichi Corp laptop. He was at his school's library where the club was just finishing their meeting, "Tadashi, it's late now, we should all probably go." a student begged, knowing he couldn't lock up until they were _all_ gone. Still, the once tired young man was now curious to see what he was working on, Tadashi had claimed it was for his Tokyo Tech application, "Whoa, that's sick!"

"Thanks, it's meant to be a canon-launcher!" He used the pen-tool to guide the lines he drew and design the interior.

"That's gonna kick some serious ass!"

Tadashi had a sudden realization, "Kick ass..." His eyes jolted open, "Oh shit! Hiro's tournament!" He slammed the laptop shut and stuffed it into his messenger bag, "I gotta go!" He secured the bag over his shoulder and grabbed his papers, "I'manidiot!I'manidiot!I'manidiot!" He stuttered closely together, exiting the door.

Hiro kept glancing away from his team and into the crowd, that one empty chair biting at him every time. Where the hell was his brother? He swore he wouldn't miss this for the world that morning, "Now next from Okinawa's team is Leiko Tanaka." A girl around the same age as Hiro with short, scruffy hair rose to her feet, "And from team Tokyo, Hiro Hamada!" Hiro inhaled, now wasn't the time to worry about being mad at his brother. Just concentrate on what you're doing now!

As their son approached the mat, Kimiko panicked; but she held it in. She had to support her boy. Tadashi rushed through Shinjuku trying to remember the correct directions, "I'm a horrible brother! I'm a horrible brother! I'm a horrible brother!" He mumbled to himself as he turned a corner and bumped arms with a man, causing his papers to fly in all directions. He grabbed all of them, "You mind helping?! I'm not in a hurry or anything!" Tadashi grumbled quietly watching the man talking on his blue tooth walk away.

Hiro gave no mercy just because she was a girl, the two used their tactics faithfully and pummled one another, it wasn't until Hiro caught her off guard and took her down with a air-spinning kick. He struck his ending pose and gave a fighting cry. He'd won this fight. Atsushi screamed out his cheers before he caught himself and tried to stay composed. Leiko was rubbing her jaw, Hiro went to help her up but she held out a hand. She didn't need any help.

Tadashi had found the center where the event was being held. He snuck through the doors and as he closed them behind him he heard, "Team Tokyo has won!" Just as the crowd bursted to a frenzied joy, Tadashi flew to his seat and sat his tired ass on it, catching his breath. Kimiko gave him a look.

"Where the hell were you?! Your brother just won!"

"What are you talking about?" He tried to laugh, "I was always here!" Tadashi sat up and waited for his star brother to look at him. When he did, Tadashi nervously waved. Hiro grimaced and turned back to his team. When they all arrived home, the event wasn't over.

"Hiro, I'm so proud of you!" Kimiko cheered, "Are you gonna teach me some moves?" She balled her fists and struck a few poses, imitating a ninja noises.

"No thanks mom, not now." He hadn't acknowledged Tadashi once on their drive home. Tadashi was the last to enter as he shut and locked the door.

"You going to bed honey?" She put her purse down and Hiro slumped up the stairs.

"Yeah." He sighed. One who _should_ be overjoyed about his night was utterly depressed. Tadashi watched his brother ascend the stairs with guilt. When he heard the bedroom door shut, he slowly turned to his parents. Kimiko was annoyed, Atsushi was _enraged_. Tadashi forced a laugh.

"Well, I'm tired too; you know, from running from school to the center so I wouldn't miss my little brother's tournament..." The seventeen-year-old went to creep up the stairs but his father's god-like voice made him not even dare set a toe on the next step.

"Tadashi Hamada you come right here. Is that how you're going to treat your younger brother? Is he so unimportant to you that you nearly missed his competition?"

"No!" He loved Hiro, God he loved him! He'd just never been able to prove it.

"Then why weren't you there?!"

"Atsushi," Tadashi's more forgiving mother placed a hand on his chest, taming his temper. Though, the mother-bear wasn't quite done, "Tadashi, we want to know what was so important that you broke your promise to Hiro."

He knew his parents cared about work, but now he couldn't believe he'd broken this promise. It wasn't worth it, "I-I was trying to make improvements on your prototype drone model..." Tadashi said quietly, "I lost track of time and I-" Sorry just wouldn't be enough. He sighed, "I'm so stupid." He meant it too. Stupid for putting a job that wasn't even his above his family priorities. His parents even knew he wasn't faking the shame.

"Tadashi," His father said, "We understand that our robotics work is important to you."

"But family our family is what's _most_ important." Kimiko finished. Tadashi glanced at the two, "We want you to know that even _if_ our job becomes yours one day, it still shouldn't become your life."

"We want you to be what's really important first." Atsushi gently nudged his shoulder, "A decent human being." He made his oldest son chuckle.

"And the same, wonderful son and brother for as long as you live."

"So, do you _promise_ that the next time something important in the family comes up, you won't let us down?" Atsushi held his shoulder. His son, now a young man, smiled.

"I promise."

A year later, Tadashi realized he'd failed. He'd failed miserably. Here he was sitting in a dark, underground warehouse waiting for someone to see him and kill him on sight with his own equipment. How could someone have stolen the _microbots_ out of all things? Maybe he could reason with the thieves by telling them if they just needed to borrow something or if they were just curious, to stop by personally. Maybe they were friendly, he _prayed_ they were.

Tadashi was nearly asleep when he heard something fall. A metal utensil clanged on the ground from afar, it disturbed the helpless man. There was indeed a prowler about, and he was about to come across him! He was shaking, he shrunk behind a filing cabinet and begged that they would leave. He couldn't be seen just yet! Tadashi had to gather his nerve. If he could scale Mt. Fuji without his feet once touching the ground, he could certainly scare some prowlers away. Maybe the sight of a worker still being there would be enough to surprise them!

A blue light turned on and he heard more clanking, as if the drones were being rummaged through. Tadashi tried to calm his heartbeat, he steadied himself and moved slowly in the direction of the noise. His fears of his family's business being exploited would come true if he didn't act quickly! Lurking in the shadows, he was getting close to where all the robot models were kept; many were prototypes or not quite complete yet. The noise was definitely in the room, but where?! Tadashi looked around the robots, when he peered over the most recent _Baymax_ model in full armor, he saw a cloaked figure, about seven or eight feet tall, opening up the abdomen of a machine and tear its guts out. Tadashi's throat closed so he couldn't gasp. He whirled back around to hide himself. Someone... No, _something_ was out to steal their equipment.

Tadashi had to be courageous. He silently prepared himself and shut his eyes tightly. Peering around _Baymax_ quietly yet again, the figure had vanished. Tadashi's heart skipped a beat. Where was it?! He'd lost the horrifying entity! It had surely been there, the robot had been vandalized! Letting out a silent gasp, Tadashi stepped out into the open, taking cautious steps, he looked left and right...

...

Something was buzzing behind him, whirring up into the roar of a beast. They were far underground so it was hard for anyone above to hear, but Tadashi was there and he heard it; he _felt_ it. The brown-eyed young adult took an agonizingly long time to turn around and register what he was seeing... But it was his horrid reality when he saw the cloaked figure, now high in the air wearing a haunting Kibuki mask. He was being levitated by a sea of microbots, like a heard of spiders that were close together as if to block out the sun.

Tadashi couldn't scream, everything felt like it was shutting down, but the creature held out his arm towards Tadashi, and a trail of them crawled over his arm and lunged themselves at him. They stung him like bees and eletrocuted him. He cried out in pain and was able to fight the small things off. That was only about ten. He was looking at at least a thousand! Tadashi had no choice. He ran.

Tadashi ran in directions only _he _knew. Emergency routes should the robots become hostile! But these were robots too! But what was _he?! _He didn't have time to decide, Tadashi hurled away from the tsunami of microbots biting and zapping at him. He found the stairs back up to land, but he kicked into one and cracked his foot. Such a small inconvinience hurt even worse when he was frightened! Tadashi's escape was delayed, he tried to pick himself back up, but over him was a flood of the microbots. A few simple shocks to the heart would do him in. Tadashi shook his head, his eyes begging them with frantic tears being held in. He didn't want to die shedding tears for his own life, he just thought about what would Hiro do without him...

But suddenly, a loud, discordant screech drilled Tadashi's ears and blurred his already salty, wet vision. He grasped his head in pain as the noise sounded again. The microbots' leader apparently was merciful and simply wanted to take what he needed and leave. The microbots retreated, as they did, they opened a curtain revealing the very giant who'd sent them. Tadashi took a good long look at him, "W-Who are you?!" He yelled out.

The thing did not respond and quickly, using his army or microbots to ascend the building, was vanished along with them. This was no man... It was a phantom; _Yokai._


	8. Stop

Tadashi was running on pure heart-attack and adrenaline as he dragged his scuffed, bruised self home. Tadashi was in a trance, unblinking, completely out of touch with his environment. Yet somehow, he could tell where he was walking, he skulked up the steps to his house like a zombie and pressed at the doorknob. It was unmoving at first, but eventually he was able to enter his dark house and not even notice the figure sitting on the sofa.

"Well I hope you're happy you left a fourteen-year-old alone for half the night!" Hiro scoffed, but the eighteen-year-old couldn't hear him, his ears were still ringing from the alarming screech of Yokai, the microbots that nipped and stung at his flesh. Tadashi stumbled up one step and continued on, Hiro raised a brow, "Aren't you gonna ask why I'm sitting here in the dark?" Tadashi was contemplating how long the man had been invading their parents work. How he knew to telepathically control the microbots for assaulting a person.

Oh god! Japan could be in trouble and it was all his fault for blabbing about it to people. He should've known not everyone at Hamada-Daichi Corp could keep their mouths shut. Or was it even a human? "Tadashi?" Hiro finally caught up to the young man sitting on his bed in the dark, the younger brother turned the light on, "Good God Tadashi, you look pale!" Tadashi's eyes were still glazed, his expression blank. Hiro was now worried, his brown eyes glittered with concern, "_Nii-san?!_" He shook his brother back into reality, he flinched violently, causing the _otouto_ to jump back.

"God you scared me." Tadashi put his hand on his chest, but Hiro's jaw dropped.

"You scared _me!_ What the hell is wrong with you?"

"I saw the man who was stealing from our company." There was a moment of silence, Hiro's large eyes narrowed; could he have nearly lost his brother that night right after hanging up on him? And whats worse is that the young man had seemingly gone through a second trauma in his life. Losing his parents, then nearly his own life. Hiro sat next to him.

"What happened, are you okay?"

"Fine... Now." He felt his heart again, "God, my heart's still pounding."

"Who was he?"

Tadashi went to speak, but his throat closed. The man's ten-foot-tall stature and the lack of hesitance to attack him. God forbid he hadn't decided to spare him! Thank god he wasn't threatening otherwise Tadashi would've been gone, "I don't know." Hiro raised a brow, "He was wearing a Kabuki mask." Hiro didn't say anything, but spoke with his eyes that were always full of expression; brothers had a way of communicating without having to actually speak, "He had this army of microbots."

"Microbots?"

"The ones I..." Hiro didn't quite know about his wings yet, "Was _going_ to use for my wings."

"Did he hurt you!?" Hiro nearly jumped up, ready to cut someone's throat open, but Tadashi calmed him down.

"No! No... And let's be thankful he_ didn't._ He had enough to shock someone's heart dead. I mean, he scared me yeah, kind of to show how he's powerful, but he left. He was stealing the gears from our drones."

"What if he's building something?"

"One thing at a time, Hiro!" He begged, interrupting his brother's thought. The young robotics prodigy sighed, "I have to tell them. I can't let them keep coming to work knowing that this man could show up and kill them."

"What about the police, will they do anything?"

"Going to the police would rat out our family business!"

"Who cares?!" Hiro raised his arms, he started pacing back and forth in front of Tadashi, "You could've _died_ tonight! What the hell is so special about this 'company' that you're risking life?"

"It was a promise I made to our parents." Tadashi halted Hiro's marching with his assertive tone, still not strong enough to stand back up, he continued, looking straight into his brother's eyes, "A promise I made at their _graves!_" He took a breath, keeping from getting overemotional in front of his brother, "I can't break that even a year later!"

Hiro was quiet for a long while, until he finally pondered his brother's words, took a breath, and said, "You can keep your promise to them but not to _me_?" Guilt tore at his heart like it was a sin, Hiro went for the door, "All I ask now is that you do _not_ put your life in danger!"

"Hiro, I promise-"

"STOP SAYING THAT!" His eyes were like daggers, snakes that were shooting venom at Tadashi; he knew he said it far too much... Tadashi knew he couldn't keep a promise even to himself, "..._Oyasuminasai._" Hiro had a tinge of regret, but his brother had to hear it. Hiro at least left on a more gentle note... Tadashi was unable to even panic anymore about Yokai. He was so tired... He kicked his shoes off and laid sideways on his bed where the moment he shifted into a more comfortable position, he fell asleep and had uneasy dreams about Yokai. The kabuki mask was the worst part because of the eye sockets; no color was seen except black coals where they had sunken in. They boared right through his very mind.

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**Souls_&_Swords: Sorry for this painfully short chapter... Been so busy with school but wanted to update.**


	9. Sacrifices

**Souls_&_Swords: PLEASE DON'T IGNORE. Over twenty-five followers and favorites! Thanks so much! I hope this story is living up to the expectations of the movie... I doubt I'll have it finished by Friday though. The story plot however, will NOT be changing. I just wanted you all to know I love and appreciate every single one of you for taking your time to read and favorite this piece. Sorry for updating so inconsistently, this chapter should redeem all the suspense I've been giving you. Please leave a thorough review of what you all think! = ) **

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Before the meeting, there was anger. So much anger. Tadashi had his head pressed into the desk of the meeting room, he banged his hand three times onto the wood. How the hell was he supposed to tell his co-workers and second in command some freak in a kibuki mask attacked him with their own inventions? Utterly baffled, Orochi ran in with the bewildered workers of Hamada-Daichi Corp behind him, "_Hamada-san,_ they're ready." Tadashi had to calm down and let it go for now. He had to be thinking rationally if he was going to explain _this_.

"Everyone, I need your undivided attention!" Tadashi and Orochi stood amongst the employees, the Hamada waited until everyone was silent and paying attention, "Last night I stayed here in the basement to see if anybody showed up... A man _is_ stealing from our lab."

Those were the words they _didn't_ want to hear! They all started to rile up again like a group of high-schoolers, Orochi waved his arms to simmer them back down, "Now calm down! Calm down! I'm sure _Hamada-san_ scared them off," More like scared _him_ off, "And had a very stern word with them, right Tadashi?"

The youngest worker there who was ironically the head manager there paused for a moment. His entire mental functioning went flat as he tried to explain exactly how screwed they all were. His awkward reaction and the fact that his eyes were dashing all over the meeting room should've said enough. He stuttered until the words tripped off of his tongue, "No... He got away." Before everyone could panic again, Tadashi spoke out, "But listen! This isn't some prowler or your average thief trying to vandalize for the hell of it here!" He thought of the charcol-like eyes behind the kabuki mask, the long dark cloak that hid any visible idea that he could be human.

Yokai was a force not be reckoned with by _anyone_, anyone who didn't know who they were dealing with... like Tadashi. The handsome, brown-eyed young man blinked and continued, "It's not safe for any of us to be here... I think it's time we put our drones to the test and let them deal with the villain."

"And let all of Japan know what we do?" Someone shouted.

"We have no choice left!" Tadashi replied, but Orochi defended him farther.

"Our manager is right, we need to trust him... He _was_ the one to see it after all." He gave Tadashi a side-glance, a sort of suspicious one... He didn't like it. He had a feeling they'd have their own private meeting as soon as everyone disbanded. The two men dismissed the workers to their homes until farther notice and remained in the office with what remaining daylight they had, "_Hamada-san_," He was using that tone, the tone that made Tadashi very uncomfortable, the tone that meant business, "You know as your second in command I always trust you, but I don't know if I can believe that some ten-foot tall man in a kabuki mask was using microbots to attack you."

Tadashi quickly jumped into defense, "I know, I couldn't believe it myself... But it was an army of them! He was ripping out the insides of our mechanical soldiers. Either he was trying to get more of them or find an easier way to control them without the-"

"How did you say those wings worked again?" Orochi interrupted.

Tadashi was annoyed that he didn't let him finish, but continued anyway, "Using microbots. I made a helmet that has a telecommunication device inside; the neural transmitter uses electroencephalography to process thought commands."

"What _kind_ of thought commands?" The twenty-one-year-old scratched his chin, Tadashi replied quickly.

"You know, up! Down! Turbo thrust! Halt! Basically whatever you think, they'll do!" Tadashi began to wonder if Yokai had controlled them the same way he had. All of their microbots only followed commands if from a familiar source, so it must've meant that this guy created his _own_ army of microbots.

"So either this is some kid who accidentally figured out how to control them, or a monster that wants to use that power for his own accords." Orochi exclaimed, pinching the bridge of his nose hopelessly agitated. "Until then, _Hamada-san_, we need to keep away from here... There's probably nothing we can do if he's that dangerous." Tadashi's eyes glittered with sorrow, "I'm sorry." He patted the young man's shoulder, "It's been a pleasure being the last Hamada-Daichi Corp generation with you."

There wasn't even a moment to reply, a beat of silence. Orochi sighed and walked out the door, leaving Tadashi with little daylight to spare. He sat at the table and pondered heavily before making any heavy decisions. It was his promise to his mother and father that he'd continue their legacy and protect Japan should any threat arrive.

Well, a threat _had_ arrived and he was useless! Tadashi had been unprepared the night before, expecting some skulking teenager he could easily throw out like a bouncer would at a night club. But this was far more; Yokai was vicious and, although he'd spared him _once_, would most likely kill on sight. The worst part was that he'd controlled the microbots without any trouble. Perhaps he _had_ created his own swarm! Tadashi was pulling at his thick, dark hair before he saw the time and forced himself out of the office and soon empty building. All of his personalized belongings still at his desk, including the most recent family picture of the Hamadas. That was a year ago.

Tadashi opened the door and called out, waiting to be scolded by his brown-eyed younger brother for being late. Bus must've been late or something since there was no response. He crept up the stairs into his room where his helmet and gaunlet were. One command of the gaunlet and he had a full suit of armor; chest plates shin guards and boots and carbon-fiber undertights that stretched and moved flexibly. One command with his helmet and his wings would send him sky-high. _That's_ what he needed! He needed to show Yokai that he had something to fear or worry about. The drones were useless without a commander, but Tadashi was his own commander!

He had to return quickly in order to prepare himself for the ten-foot-tall villain's return. Hurrying down the stairs before he even reached the door, a voice called his name and he dropped his two items. His fourteen-year-old brother must've snuck in while he was upstairs, he was just tossing his bag on the couch when the eighteen-year-old leapt off the last step, "Whatcha doin?" He asked suspiciously.

"Nothing. I just gotta drop some stuff off at the lab since we're going on hiatus for a while."

"Oh..." Hiro nodded, understanding, "The thief thing? How'd that go?" He frumped down on the couch and waited his _Nii-san's_ response.

"Nothing yet. I'm gonna drop this off and reset the security moniter so that maybe the drones can take care of it." He lied; he didn't mention the drones had to be commanded to Hiro before. His big-eyed-brother just pursed his lips and shook his head.

"I see... Would you at least stay here for dinner before you head out? I know you have to work at that corner shop and all." How long had he been neglecting _that_ job? Tadashi's eyes widened, but how could he reject a simple meal-time with his younger brother? He picked up his red helmet with a purple stripe and red-plated gaunlet. Their family business was going through a crisis... But if it was for Hiro, he could wait.

"Of course."

...

The two jokingly clanked their bowls of Hayashi Rice together and began to chow down. Tadashi decided to have an adult-like conversation with his brother, who was gorging the beef-on-rice violently, "So how's school been?" He asked slowly inbetween his bites. Hiro swallowed and wiped his lips.

"Fine. All we've been doing is prepping for mid-terms, which is easy." He sat his chopsticks down and sipped on his drink. Tadashi could laugh at how such a bright, promising student could eat like a pig at home. And somehow, he ate like a pig and managed to keep his teeth spotless after chewing. Even with the minor gap he had, a trait he got from their mother. He remembered Kimiko once debating getting him braces to correct it, despite he didn't need them for any other problems. For the brothers, it was like a family heirloom.

Just like Hamada-Daichi Corp, which was counting on him right now. Tadashi felt uneasy, and Hiro caught the vibe. His cheeks were stuffed with rice and meat, but he didn't care, "What's wrong?" He muttered, mouth half-full.

"Hiro, I..." He wasn't quite sure how to ask his _little_ brother this, but he needed to hear _something_ positive compared to the last two days. Hiro waited intently, "Do you think that..." He sighed, "Do you think that if mom and dad were here now, they'd be proud of me?" The young teenager was caught off-guard and he hesitated to respond.

"Uh..." He said quietly, scratching at his already messy hair.

"I'm sorry, never mind!" He held his hand up, "Just an impulse."

"Nonono!" Hiro jolted quickly, "It's alright! Sometimes I wonder the same thing, to be honest." Tadashi looked at him and grinned slightly, Hiro knew that look; he needed reassurance, "Even with the shit that's going on, they'd be proud of how you're handling it!"

Tadashi side-smirked and raised a brow, "Hiro Hamada, watch your language." He said in a laid-back tone, but Hiro scoffed.

"Please, our parents were the most uncensored people we knew!" Hiro sat cross-legged, getting uncomfortable on his knees even if he _was_ sitting on a pillow. Tadashi laughed.

"Oh god, our mom did say, 'I pushed you both through my pelvis! I'm entitled to say whatever I want around you!" Hiro laughed hysterically, remembering their mom saying those exact words three years ago. Tadashi chuckled too, he chuckled and wheezed until it became a full on roar along with Hiro. It was at least thirty seconds before they were both aching and trying to catch their breath. How long had it been since their sides were hurting because they were laughing? They didn't know. "God, you have the best laugh!" He couldn't help but tell his brother, who was still ventilating, "You can make even the most saturnine person giddy with that chuckle you've got."

Hiro sat back upright, ribs no longer squeezing his lungs, "Well," He cleaed his throat, "Sometimes you need it." Tadashi didn't realize it, but he was seeing so much of himself in his little brother. Not in physical resemblance but in everything, just how bright he remained through their dark periods wanted to make Tadashi do better as well. They smiled at one another and for a moment, the young man had forgotten about the danger waiting for him across the city. That is, until he looked at the helmet and gaunlet on the dresser by the front door. Tadashi grimaced and watched his brother finish his bowl.

"Hiro?"

"Why don't you go shower and all that? I got the dishes tonight." Hiro didn't seem reluctant at all to give Tadashi that job, but he still asked.

"You sure? I thought it was my night." He said as he handed him the bowl quickly.

"Psh, I've been doing this four years longer than you have."

"Alright, G'night." Hiro assumed he wouldn't see him later that night, but he had high hopes he'd see him in the morning. Tadashi turned the sink on, but rapidly shut it off.

"Hiro!" The fourteen-year-old was nearly up the stairs, but he poked his head around the wall and over the bannister.

"What?"

"You... You're always on my side, right?" He asked bashfully.

Hiro's eyes dashed around the room confused and he snorted, "Tadashi, you're my brother." He looked at him, "I was on your side before I was even born." He didn't question any of it, Hiro knew that Tadashi was more emotional like their mother. Hiro was more easy-going like their father Atsushi. Tadashi was thankful for his answer. He waited until late when the time was right and Hiro was asleep to head out. Not before saying goodnight to his _otouto_ while he slept. He didn't want to say it, but he had a gut feeling it could be the last time he ever said anything to his brother ever again.

...

The young resident of Tokyo was lucky when he arrived; no sign of Yokai or his microbots yet as he waited in the underground lab. He was fully equipped; he'd activated the gaunlet's power and was in his metal-plated armor. His helmet had a clear-visor over his face. Come at me now, Yokai! He thought. Tadashi was ready. It was silent.

_Silence..._

_Silence..._

Half an hour passed before he at last heard clanking and crashing... Only this time, it was coming from upstairs! Perhaps he was expecting him and thought he wouldn't hear it! Oh but he did. Tadashi climbed the stairs and into the main offices where the cubes had clearly been ransacked. Tadashi couldn't believe what was happening to his parents' property, but he had no time for emotions. He concealed whatever feelings he had and looked around until he saw a tall figure. He got down low and kept quiet. His wings were ready in case of a _true_ emergency escape. He wanted to avoid revealing Hamada-Daichi Corp's business at all costs.

Tadashi crept towards the noise until it was right before him. He was sweating, not because of the hot temperatures of the computers that were left turned on, not because of the heavy armor and helmet, but because he was terrified. He reminded himself of one thing. He had a promise to keep... A promise to keep, and a brother to go home to.

Tadashi took some deep breaths and counted to three.

_Ichi..._

The noise suddenly halted, it knew it had company!

_Ni..._

...

_San!_

Tadashi leapt and right as he pounced on the figure, landing heavily with all his armor on, he went right through it. The puppet of microbots had disbanded and swarmed back together, humming like a nest of hornets, stinging like so. Tadashi was protected this time! He watched as they meshed together and observed him. He didn't let his guard down, circling slowly until they made a move. The microbots instead rushed up towards the cieling and chomped on the rafters. A chunk of the cieling came tumbling down, but Tadashi, though surprised, used his wings to quckly throw him out of danger. At least _his_ microbots were faithful! They may have left a mess, but they weren't going to get away with the crimes they've commited! But where was their general?

Tadashi didn't care, he kept his eyes, narrow and angry, locked on the buzzing blizzard of bots until he felt a grating shock from behind. Crying out in surprise, he'd been stung by something... Yokai! The man, as tall as ever, still hiding behind his kibuki mask had shocked him with one loyal bot. But it wasn't enough. Tadashi might be down on the ground, but he quickly jumped back up. He prepared himself for a fight but then... The phantom chuckled.

"Please, don't start something you won't come out of alive."

Tadashi went stiff, his mind went blank, "You can talk?"

"Of course I can talk!" Yokai's buzzing guards shoved Tadashi aside and he bounced off the wall; even his armor wasn't enough to keep him prepared for surprises, "I can kill too!" He grabbed Tadashi by the throat, not squeezing it; he wanted to hear him beg for mercy. Tadashi could hardly breathe because of the fear, the fear of failing his deceased parents, the fear of never seeing his brother again and leaving him alone forever.

"What do you want?!" Tadashi tried the negotiation method, something peaceful, _anything_ that guaranteed his safe return to Hiro, "Just tell me and I'll see what I can do!" Yokai didn't say anything. He didn't release Tadashi from his vice-grip either. Instead, he curiously turned to his left and dragged Tadashi by the carbon-fiber collar over. The one desk that had yet to be rummaged through, _his_ desk. The photograph of the Hamadas the year prior, Kimiko and Atsushi proudly behind their two sons, one was giving the other bunny-ears, ironically enough, it was the older sibling's doing. That photo was there for Atsushi to look at everyday so that he was reminded of why he worked so hard. Yokai picked it up where on the back it had a lable attatched to it.

**_私の族_**

**_My Family_**

Tadashi kept silent and prayed Yokai would only mock him and continue on, "So..." Yokai recognized that man before him on the photograph, the older man who died in the accident with his beautiful wife. Four other workers as well, but they were perhaps the more significant, "You're a Hamada!" Yokai sounded very pleased and he threw Tadashi against the wall. Yokai was before him, using his god-like strength to keep him there. Silly metal wasn't going to be enough, "Tell me, are you proud of what you do here? Make weapons so someone can take them and make an army of there own?"

"No!" Tadashi panicked, "I'm begging you!" He was letting his emotions take over, he just wanted to return home alive, "Listen, I swear, I'll help you. I just don't want you hurting people... I'll give you anything you need."

"Fool! You think I'd trust a _Hamada_ under those words?" Tadashi was only half-lying, but he knew Yokai must have some appeasements in there.

"Look, I won't turn you into the authorities!" Yokai's grip loosened; Tadashi was no threat, he was pathetic, "It's not an option... What I will do is offer you some sort of task, make something maybe we could use! And I'll pay you, whatever you want!"

"I don't desire money. I'd be robbing banks if I wanted that!" Yokai's mask was immobile, but Tadashi could still sense a wicked smile, "What I _do_ desire is a favor."

Tadashi wanted no part of it... But he had no choice, it was _his_ task. With self-loathing and guilt, he nodded. Yokai released him fully as his microbots slowly surrounded him, lovingly rubbing against the man's cloak, "You see, these little ones have no soldiers to command nor weapons to fire. If you could provide me with some suitable weapons, I'll leave you be to live your life." Tadashi was breathing heavily, there _had_ to be a cost. He didn't want to, but he asked.

"And what if I don't?" He felt it again, the eerie, sadistic smile coming from behind the mask. The microbots were screeching again, lifting their master into the air like they were his throne.

"If you do not deliver me my army in five days time, you can say goodbye to your little brother."

"NO!" His heart dropped into his stomach like a solid rock would plunge into the bottom of the ocean; not even slowing down, but plunging until it hit the dark bottom, "LEAVE MY BROTHER OUT OF THIS!"

"We all must make sacrifices... If you don't do it I'll kill him now!"

"NO!" Tadashi was on his knees, he couldn't even look up at his antagonist, he just repeated 'no' a third time, desperation in his voice.

"Then bring me my soldiers_sssss~_" The voice then became an echo, and he and the microbots had vanished. Tadashi was too weak to even look up and see where they went, his knees were too weak to stand up.

But he'd fucked up again. And now Hiro's life was at stake.


	10. Seized

**Souls_&_Swords: I hope this is as good as you're all hoping it will be. I don't want to be pushy, but please say more than 'please update' in a review! I want to know what you guys like other than obeying your desires; lol. **

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Tadashi's mind didn't mold itself back together until that morning; the threat Yokai gave him was too much on his sanity. He unequipped the helmet and armor and dashed home on the early, lifeless streets of Tokyo. He didn't care if Hiro was still sleeping; he busted his brother's bedroom door straight open and shouted his name... Gone. Bed and room a mess. Tadashi's eyes glazed over for a moment, "Hiro?!"

He heard someone with a mouth full of toothpaste reply, "_Agh?_" The curious younger brother waited to see what he wanted, not noticing his worries. Tadashi let out a slight chuckle that was a mix of relief and force. His heart was still in his stomach, but Hiro was oblivious as he blurbled 'good morning' through with his toothbrush in his mouth.

"Morning..." Tadashi's eyes were heavy, but he was far too petrified to think about resting. He had five days to build an army, five days to betray his family name. He was sure his parents were rolling in their graves as they stood. But the only person he had in the world was now involved and he didn't know it. For all Hiro knew, it was just a normal week ahead of him.

Still in his pajamas, he was about to cross paths with his brother, "I'm gonna get my uniform on and head out." Tadashi's eyes widened. What if Yokai invaded and just wanted to torture him by making him a slave? He grabbed his brother by the shoulders.

"Hiro! No!"

"No?" No school? Was this his brother?

"I need you to stay home from school."

"You need me to _what_?" The one thing that would make him successful he didn't want to do? Tadashi saw he thought he was crazy but had to insist.

"I'll even talk to your teachers! Just... _Five days_ don't go outside! Don't leave the house! ... Don't even look out a window!" Tadashi's mixture of anxiety and lack of sleep were taking a toll. Hiro _knew_ something was wrong... Terribly wrong. Hiro was slightly shaking himself.

"Tadashi, what's going on?" His _N__ii-san_ was closing the curtains to his _otouto's_ window; there was now no light, "What happened?"

"I went to work last night." He admitted with ice in his tone, _daring_ Hiro to get mad at him again. But the fourteen-year-old didn't care; he was fortunate that he was even home on time.

"Okay?"

"And something terrible is going to happen if I don't build robots in the next five days." Tadashi dashed past his brother and down the stairs. A startled teenager followed him, demanding to know what was happening. Tadashi tapped the keys of the holographic door pad to the basement and Hiro kept pestering him all the way down.

"Tadashi, _please_ just tell me what's happening?"

"I told you, there's this thing!" He pulled out the old scrapbook of robotic models; it had collected dust for years. He wiped it off in all directions and it scattered into the air, "And it said if I don't build it an army for its microbots-"

"Microbots?"

"Then he'll..." He looked at Hiro's fearful eyes... The eyes that would be shut forever if he didn't act quickly. Tadashi didn't finish his sentence and he tried to find something that Yokai would accept. Hiro was holding in his emotions as tightly as he could, but it was causing his chest and stomach to ache miserably.

"Okay..." If his eighteen-year-old brother was this serious about frightful, the least he could do was help, "What do you need me to do?"

"Nothing." He mumbled, already immersed with his sketching. But Hiro was hard-headed (like him).

"_Nothing__?"_ He repeated with a harsh tone.

"Yes, nothing!" Tadashi glared at him; he seemed angry, but he was stressed beyond Hiro's craziest beliefs, "Just don't leave the house, don't answer the door if someone knocks, I just need you here with me!"

That sounded strange coming from his introverted, aloof older brother. But Hiro knew that Tadashi wouldn't jeopardize his grades and attendance record for no reason. Hiro had a bizarre instinct of worry twist his stomach together and he backed out, "Alright. I-I won't leave." Tadashi nodded, trying to think and stay calm at the same time, "I'm gonna make us some breakfast." He remembered Tadashi said stay away from windows, "In the... pantry." He pranced up the steps and Tadashi pulled at his hair, wishing so badly he could've protected Hiro better and not been a fool. What a worthless fool he was!

What folly!

...

Hiro continuously was checking on his brother in the lab, but all he saw was his poor _Nii-san_'s head splayed on the desk with mounds of crumpled papers barricading him from the rest of the world. Grimacing, he saw how distressed he was yet said nothing and went upstairs to be alone. He couldn't comfort his brother, Tadashi couldn't even help himself! He was busy having a moral dilemma than coming up with robotic anatomies. What Tadashi had really been doing was writing down motivations to do this.

On the note they all said words like_ You HAVE to do_ _this!_

_He'll destroy the town!_

_You could stop him!_

But they all weren't enough compared to the piece of paper in front of him. He'd tried to tell himself everything would be alright as he read his T-chart. On the left side read;

_If you build the robots_

_He'll destroy the city._

_It'll be YOUR fault!_

_He could kill you and ruin your family's business._

_Could start a war._

_He'll leave you alone if you keep your word._

Then on the right side, was one simple thing;

_If you don't_

_He'll kill your brother._

Tadashi placed his elbows on the desk and pulled at his hair. It should be an easy choice, make the robots and live life peacefully with Hiro... In another country that hasn't been demolished because of him. His chest was so tight against his lungs that he could hardly breathe. Tadashi said to himself that he was losing his mind. His parents were dead; he couldn't ask for their guidance. If there hadn't been a stupid accident a year ago none of this would be happening. All the weight of the world was on his shoulders and there was _nothing_ that could change it.

He just wanted an answer. An answer to what the hell he ever did wrong; he was searching for answers to life situations for eighteen years and now he couldn't answer the most important one. What do I do? He wanted to scream violently at the heavens and curse god for putting him in this hellish world and making him have to make these decisions. But doing so wouldn't solve anything. He'd just make himself feel worse by hurting his throat. He still cried out and banged his fists on the desk a few times.

Catching his breath from his emotional overload, he saw where he'd set his helmet and gaunlet... He had the wings and the protection. He just needed the offense! The oriental young man suddenly had an epiphany and grabbed the two items. They needed fixing up; just add some rockets into the fists and he'd be safe! He was going to show Yokai he'd picked the wrong man, a Hamada, to mess with! Tadashi hurriedly opened his laptop and began designing the cloaked battle gear.

If only Hiro could see how relieved Tadashi was when he had an idea; instead, the fast-talking boy was hanging upside down off his bed, bored. He occasionally glanced at the picture of toddler him climbing onto his mom's back as she cuddled a young Tadashi. It was sitting on his desk; it had been sitting there collecting dust for a while. The picture usually gave him a warm feeling on dark days like this, but it wasn't working, knowing something was eating his brother alive down in the basement. But there was nothing he could say or do... as usual.

Hiro always got mad when Tadashi broke his promises, but Hiro didn't feel any better when something was wrong and he couldn't help because of how more resiliant he was. Hiro was usually easy-going during times of stress and sometimes he hated it because he wasn't doing Tadashi any help. Still, he knew the eighteen-year-old underground needed _some_ sort of words of kindness, even _if_ it was just him peaking to check on him occasionally, showing he cared. Hiro's hair was a mess (as usual) he blew his bangs away from his eyes and lifted himself up onto the mattress. He thought of how he used to watch Tadashi work on his robots, but at least it was on something he cared about; he could tell his brother was doing something he didn't want to... It made him sick how his normally headstrong brother was giving in. It was terrifying seeing his big brother vulnerable, then he knew something was _really_ wrong.

Hiro could never get the image of Tadashi turning around with tears crawling down his cheeks when he got the call that night. It was the moment his heart skipped a few beats and knew something tragic had happened. Hiro never wanted to see Tadashi cry again; it was too much fear. It caused him true physical pain to see Tadashi in emotional pain. That was how much he loved his brother. Little did he know Tadashi's hard work was out of his immortal love for his _otouto_, but it was best he didn't know for the time being. Unfortunately there wasn't anything he could do.

It grew dark, Tadashi couldn't take much more. He needed his warm, safe bed. He made sure Hiro was in his too before heading off. Unfortunately, sleep couldn't come; it stubbornly refused. Tadashi eventually blacked out, but it only lasted a second. He was so tired he didn't realize it was four A.M. when he heard the sound of rustling coming from across the hall. Tadashi didn't want to, but his curiosity begged him to figure out what Hiro was doing so early. Sneaking out of bed he softly turned the knob and pushed it open only to see Hiro's room trashed and by the window, Yokai; the microbots had a comatose Hiro in midair.

"Yokai! DON'T!" He'd take him down with his bare fists if it meant saving his brother, but he was halted by the shock of the bots.

"I told you to build me an army."

"Just give me more time! No!" Yokai gladly defied his prisoner and ordered the bots to completely engulf Hiro and suffocate him until his heart stopped. Tadashi tried to scream out, but all that came out was a hoarse whisper. Still, his shrill cry of horror became gasps for air when Tadashi was awake in his bed, the cold sweat on his forehead had dampened his pillow. It took a nightmare to remind him his brother would be killed? He shook his head, "What am I doing?!" He jumped out and locked himself in the basement once more. He needed to protect Hiro, even if it mean his own life.

...

Hiro didn't bother going downstairs to check on his brother when he peaked into his room to see Tadashi's bed a mess, as if he'd ran out in a hurry. He sat on his bed and looked at one of his robot figures; it was a toy from when he was little but couldn't give it away for some reason. It was one of the few toys he and Tadashi would play with together years before. He moved the arms up and down and rotated it; as if he didn't know the designs and texture by now. Hiro threw it aside and fell to his back. He closed his eyes, absolutely sick and confused of and by everything. Unlike Tadashi, Hiro could force his mind to go blank when he needed it to.

Then something happened.

Just then, a noise sent chills down Hiro's spine; a raspy, quiet groan. It didn't sound human and the strangeness of it left him paralyzed. It was absolutely horrifying, but his only guess what that Tadashi's throat had closed and he was having a panic attack in the hallway. He took a moment, but Hiro opened up his door and walked out to the hallway, "Tadashi-?" He didn't finish his address of concern. Instead, a shocked cry escaped his throat and Hiro fell to the floor in a seizure. His muscles locked up rapidly and he couldn't move, all he could do was shake and try to breathe. A microbot has tased him on his spine. The rest carried him out the window. Hiro was in so much pain and couldn't move that he was unable to scream for help. It wasn't Yokai. No, another bot, with cyan armor awaited him. He was in no way heroic; it called itself YinYang as Yokai had named him, and YinYang was simply following his master's instructions.

Tadashi was blissfully unaware, trying to focus on _saving _Hiro, not jeopardizing his life even farther... But this was going all according to plan for his antagonist.


	11. Farce

**Souls_&_Swords: Wow, such nice reviews! I guess all I had to do was ask! :)**

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If the house had ears, it would be disturbed by how eerily silent it was, the window to Hiro's room was open with a gentle breeze flying inward, but nothing else. Tadashi was so far down below finishing processing his new armor that no human walking the earth's roads could hear it. It was as though once one was down in the basement, they were no longer on earth.

"Hiro?" Hours had gone by before Tadashi emerged from the basement, heavily elevated with his protective gear, "I finally figured out what to do!" The older brother rushed up the steps to relieve his brother, but when looked through the open door, he wasn't there. His room was all in tact; it's usual perfect mess, window was wide open with nothing unusual. Tadashi looked outside, it was a cool, windy evening, so it wasn't unusual for Hiro to open up the window and feel the nice air. Still, Tadashi didn't feel quite right and he shut the window, "_Otouto?_"

Bathroom door was open, and he knew that Hiro would've saw him come out if he were in the kitchen. Something was amiss... Hiro wouldn't have gone into the garage, would he? The basement was so far down that it was merely impossible to know what was going on up on earth.

Oh no...

Tadashi's heart skipped a beat and he ran outside. The streets of the neighborhood were vacant and silent, as if something peculiar had alarmed Tokyo. Tadashi looked at the sky, looked at the house, but nothing was wrong except there was something at Hiro's window he hadn't seen before, something clanging against the wall trying to get out. A small, black object. Wasting no time, he rushed up the stairs and saw the nanobot-like creature that resembled an insect mindlessly clang against the window. Tadashi had seen it before... Just not this close. It was so small, but made of metal, and was desperate to crash through the glass. Tadashi went to pick it up with his two fingers, but it shocked him. No, _stung_ like a hornet's bite. He gasped and nearly fell back with how much it hurt; his fingers were immediately red at the tips. Trying to put pressure on them, Tadashi recognized the microbot... And it was in his house!

But why?! Tadashi wasn't going to touch it again, as another question had come to mind. Where was his _otouto?!_ Eyes wide, Tadashi went into denial, his emotions took control of his thoughts. He intellectually knew what had happened, but he needed to _see_ it to comprehend it in his heart, he searched _everything_. What he didn't search was the garage; the inside of it. It was starting to get dark out when he slowly approached the doors and took the two steps down into it. It was far too dark. Tadashi didn't want any surprises, so he shut it behind him. All went completely black.

Tadashi felt the wall for the light-switch... The young man just knew that there was something waiting for him. Yet he had nothing to defend himself; perfect for what a lousy brother he'd been. He flicked it on, his heart sunk rapidly and his eyes went blood-shot with near-tears. Carved into the garage door by the microbots was a simple message;

_**是非、彼を入手！**_

_**Come and Get Him!**_

...

Tadashi had lost all breath; he saw spots in his vision and he'd felt dizzy, unable to walk for a while. When he finally came to from his temporary black out, his first direction was faced back in his little brother's room. The dull-witted microbot still anxiously tapping against the window with no relent. Tadashi would use this as his compass. Hiro's window faced West, where the sun was just setting; the sky was on fire with pinks and reds just reaching the horizon, "Okay you little shit." Tadashi hissed at the microbot, "Where's the bastard?" Slowly, he grabbed the lift and threw the window upwards, the microbot flew off in a hyperspeed that if Tadashi had blinked, he would've missed it. But he didn't, he was going to find his brother; and he brother was West somwehere.

He didn't care if he didn't test it out, Tadashi was ready. He shoved his helmet over his head and enabled the face-protecting visor. His gaunlet was activated, a full suit of armor molded itself onto his body, now with offensive rocket fists. Tadashi's wings were spread as he stood at his brother's window, crawling out and hanging on. It was dusk now, but he had a feeling he knew where he was going. Tadashi breathed in and said to himself, "Go."

And with the simple command of his wings, he took off. Flying was natural for him; he was going to rescue Hiro. However, YinYang wasn't headed the same direction as Yokai's single microbot was. He'd brought the boy to his master as told, but was then directed to somewhere else. Behind him the microbots followed, having Hiro in an ankle and wrist-locked prison. He grunted and yelled out with every bump and sharp turn that caused him to bang his head into something, the fourteen-year-old would die of a broken neck before they even reached their destination. The streets were busy so they were taking backalleys and dark forested short cuts.

Hiro's head and body were being thrashed all about. He could only make sudden noises of shock instead of demanding to be unhanded. It was hard to get a look at the teal robot, but it almost ran like a primate, trying to get where it could as quickly as possible. Hiro didn't know where it would end, he just kept doing what he could, crying out hoping someone somewhere would notice his voice, he didn't have a moment to worry about Tadashi. It wasn't until that they reached a cliff leading to a far drop into the Tokyo bay. He saw the dark waters below where his corpse would soon be floating. Hiro knew what was happening and his eyes glittered in high anxiety.

_Now_ he had the motivation to fight back. He noticed the microbots weren't doing anything; as long as he didn't move. It was YinYang he had to out smart, it was just a robot following some crazy guy in a mask for all he knew. The robot whined and turned its gears, as if communicating with Hiro; the boy had two options; get hurled off the long drop into the bay... Or try and fall the other way so he'd land on a ledge and, though be seriously hurt, run free. YinYang grabbed him by the collar of his shirt. Hiro screamed slightly as it's eyes glowed red and it roared at him. But this was it, he was leaning towards the small ledge he could use to run off. Hell knows where in Tokyo he was, but he _needed_ civilization to find him. The bots were retreating, leaving YinYang to finish him off but instead Hiro, just before he would descend to his watery grave, acted quickly and with all of his adrenaline and past self-defense knowledge, kicked the metal figure, catching it off guard and he was dropped eleven feet, plopping on the dirt-land.

Hiro groaned, the air had left his body and he rolled onto his back. YinYang was going to retrieve him, but he heard the loud screech from across the city. Hiro heard it as well, getting onto his hands and knees. YinYang left, Yokai must've thought he'd finished the job, and Hiro didn't want to stay for a single second where he was. He dashed back into the city, trying to find home.

...

Tadashi found himself bursting through the wall of a warehouse near the Tokyo tower, Yokai didn't even want to put up a surprise attack; he was perched on a throne of microbots, Tadashi said nothing and gave a hateful glare from above, hovering down the ground, "Where is he?"

"_Hamada-san_, so nice of you to stop by." Yokai feigned politeness.

Tadashi stomped towards him, "Tell me where he is!"

"I don't know what you're talking about." Yokai snickered, but Tadashi grabbed him by the neck and lifted him into the air, surprised he wasn't even putting up a fight.

"WHERE IS MY _OTOUTO_?!" His voice echoed in the dark warehouse, "WHERE IS HE?!"

"Your _otouto_? God, I can't seem to think of him..." Yokai scratched his head, "Is he a scrawny little brat with messy hair? Wouldn't stop kicking and fussing all the way here?" If Tadashi's irises could glow, they'd glow a vibrant green with hatred and anger, or red like the blood he wanted to spill. He couldn't control his anger, he threw Yokai like a ragdoll across the room.

"THAT'S HIRO!" Yokai would've gone rolling and tumbling, but he was got by his microbots and landed on his feet. Tadashi balled his hand into a fist and his gaunlet fired off at a force of 250 newtons. Yokai truly hadn't anticipated sudden fighting gear and was punched directly in the abdomen and he bounced off the wall. The gaunlet re-equipped itself to its wearer and the older brother watched bitterly as his foe gagged and huffed.

"There's no point in putting up a fight, your brother isn't here!" He dusted his cloak and stood up straight.

"Then _where_?!" Tadashi had his rocket-punch ready to go again, not moving from his target, but Yokai shrugged.

"I don't know, I asked my apprentice YinYang to take care of him."

"YinYang...?" Tadashi didn't register for a moment, but YinYang sounded like a code-name his company had given an old drone prototype, "What the hell is YinYang?! You said you needed me to build an army."

"That was only farce... It was to keep you busy while my plan unfolded." This guy seriously had it all figured out?

"What plan?!"

"Get that rocket out of my face and I'll tell you." Tadashi wasn't moving; he kept his arm steady, the heavy metal was weighing it down and causing his body to ache. He didn't care, his eyes were locked on the man in the Kabuki mask, "Well, you want to save your _otouto_ don't you?" He was mocking him, how _dare_ he use Hiro as bait! Snarling on the inside, Tadashi reluctantly powered the hidden thrusters down and he lowered his arm, "Good..." Yokai rubbed his hands and Tadashi impatiently demanded his response, "You see, it's your company that gives the drones a bad name. You people take the money for profit but haven't done anything to protect the country."

"That's because there hasn't been an external threat to Japan yet!" Tadashi exclaimed.

"But what about thieves, rapists, or murderers? _Those_ aren't threats?"

"They don't require our drone attention! But you think using microbots to attack people will make Japan any better?"

Yokai smiled behind his mask, "No..." Tadashi felt beads of sweat trickle down his forehead, "But they'll certainly be to my benefit."

"What benefit? What did you want with me and Hiro?!"

"Hiro was just bait to reel you out of the house, I knew you wouldn't be paying him any attention since you're always _so busy_." The guilt tore at Tadashi's heart like sins, how the fuck was Yokai ripping him apart like this? "But you won't have to worry about him anymore." Yokai folded his arms, eager to see his attacker's rage, "He's probably at the bottom of the Tokyo Bay by now."

"W-what...?" Said Tadashi. His mind slowly dwindled then ceased into a morass pit of dark, fuzzy thoughts. His helmet was on, he couldn't pull his hair out nor could he rip his skull open and spoon out his brains to ask himself deep in his mind what had he done. Instead, he turned to the side, his knees were wobbling and the heavy armor only brought him down farther. Why was he going to be weak when his brother's murderer was right there? Hiro deserved revenge. Tadashi started growling and turned to the pleased antagonist standing ten feet tall, "DIE SUFFERING!" Was what he spit out before pouncing on him head on.

Yokai fell on his back, but flipped over, throwing Tadashi into the wall with his feet. Tadashi was only brusied, nothing could compare to the heartbreak on the inside that released swollen anger, it was all that flowed through his veins now. "Come on! Avenge the little pest!"

Tadashi only wanted to see him suffer, endulge in Yokai's misery so he could bleed to death. He'd revel in watching him die. Yokai waved two of his fingers and microbots swarmed around Tadashi, unable to penetrate the metal and carbon fiber. Still, they were heavy weight on him and blocking his view of the monster. He used the fire on his thrusters to scare them off and he kicked them away. But there were too many, Tadashi eventually ran and he plunged through the cage they'd trapped him in. Catching his breath, he didn't see Yokai until he looked up to see the coward up on the catwalks. Tadashi's wings opened and he practically leaped up in front of him. He wrestled with him trying to release his rocket punch to break his skull, but instead the two toppled over and ended up hurting themselves where they both lied on the ground for a moment. Tadash's helmet had fallen off upon hitting the ground head-first.

"It's no use! Just give it up!" Yokai was already on his feet, but Tadashi could only think about Hiro and how he'd failed him... He wanted to see his gap-toothed smile one last time. He tasted blood in his mouth, but he forced himself upright, he aimed for fire. "Besides, would your brother want this? For you to be a murderer?!"

Tadashi was going to release it but he stopped. He didn't know why, but he wondered what his brother would think of him should he lose his sense of humanity and kill someone. Even if they deserved it, Tadashi felt in his shattered heart that Hiro wouldn't want to see this. Tadashi ventilated heavily, lungs crushed behind his armor and he turned the fire thrusters off. The microbots however were being commanded to chomp the rafters of the lowest catwalk off, and so they did. Tadashi heard it before he saw it, the long walk-way was gaining momentum right on top of him. Tadashi didn't know what to do other than run. He did but as soon as it landed in pieces behind him, he toppled over and slammed head first into the marble flooring.

He remembered nothing after that.


	12. Otouto's Decision

**Souls_&_Swords: Just a random note; Hiro's scene in this chapter was inspired by the song ****_Tiangong_**** by Steven Price which can be found on YouTube. A movie soundtrack but it is so wonderful and futuristic that I thought I'd share what inspired this scene with you guys! Please listen after or during even! :D**

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He should've been dead he'd impacted so hard on the ground, but the eighteen-year-old was seeing shapes. His eyes though heavy were opening and his vision adjusted from seeing double and bizarre lights to a dark room with gadgets and contraptions all glowing a faint blue. Tadashi's fogged mind cleared and he realized he was forcibly standing' his wrists were tied to some restraint and the wings of his armor were screwed to the wall. He tried to move forward, but when he slightly inched his foot off the platform, a black widow's bite went down his spine and all through his body. He howled out and he nearly fell over had he not been tied up.

"What are you doing up so soon?" Yokai's voice pierced the silence. He was sitting on his throne of microbots when he approached him. He tauntingly squeezed the young man's cheeks, "You like your little prison? Made it myself! It tases you whenever you try to escape." He pushed his face to the side, "Not that you have any reason to leave. I mean, your business is shutting down, your parents are dead and..." The bully took a dramatic pause, "You have no one waiting for you to come home anymore." Tadashi was over the initial shock, but his heart was still in tatters. The lethargic one just stood there with his head low, no reason to bother living.

"Don't give me that look! I mean, you've still got your health and your gifts!" Yokai paced back and forth in front of him, "Don't be so glum Tadashi, after all, if your family hadn't been so greedy, this wouldn't be happening!"

Wait, how did _he_ have the nerve to say that about his family? Tadashi's eyes narrowed, "What?"

"Hamada-Daichi Corp was a Co-produced organization. The profit should've been split equally between the two family heads." Yokai's mask was face to face with Tadashi, who was hopelessly baffled.

"What are you talking about?!"

"Your side of the family was making more of a profit than the Daichis which wasn't ethical."

"The Hamadas and Daichis were getting even pay depending on their workloads; it was a matter of labor!"

"Well, the labor wasn't right." Tadashi was more skeptic by the minute. His heart started to pound when he finally demanded Yokai to remove his mask, "With pleasure..." He did so, "_Hamada-san_." Tadashi's eyes and mouth fell wide open when he saw the familiar young face.

"OROCHI?!" Why was he even surprised? No, he shouldn't think that! He was his co-worker, he attended his parents' funeral with him... But why? Why had he done the most wicked acts of humanity ever seen?! Tadashi tried to say something, but it came out in mindless stutters of bewilderment.

"Now, now _Hamada-san_," He said coldly, "Let's not get into a panic, you'll only get yourself electrocuted. You see, now that you know about the unfair profiting, you should also know that it was foolish of you to give me ideas by telling me about the microbots." Tadashi was still processing everything, Orochi put his mask back on, "You see, with this mask, I too can control these little buggers just as you could propel yourself in the air... But you were selfish and didn't share this idea."

"Orochi, whatever it is you want, I'll-"

"Hang on! I'm not finished." He pointed a finger, "It wasn't until after your parents' accident that I truly became envious. You were clearly more favored among me since Hamada is the first name in the title!"

"My family started it! Of course it is! We developed our partnership in the eighties..."

Orochi nodded, explaining the details, "Well, now that we've established who's out of work here, I may as well tell you what I intend to do... I'm going to send these little clusters out to terrorize the city, maybe even raise the death toll. And then, with YinYang's old movesets _we_ gave him, will become the famed hero I deserve to be!"

"But you can't do that! I can't let you do this knowing you're going to kill people!" Tadashi teared up, "Orochi _onegai!_" He begged hystiercally, "I swear I'll-"

"Didn't you break all your promises to your brother?" ...There was heavy silence, "Even to his last breath, he couldn't count on you." Tadashi's body went numb and he swallowed his tongue. It was definitely the lump he was feeling in his throat currently as he cried softly. This couldn't be a vendetta towards _him_ alone, but his family. He'd taken everything away from him; perhaps all that was left was his own life. But Tadashi didn't care; what good was it living without someone to protect in his life?

...

Hiro was home at last. It was dark as ebony and eerily silent when the battered boy entered, "Tadashi!" He was near breathless, the door bounced off the wall when he slammed it open. Hiro's heart was going to spurt a hole in his chest; he evened out his breaths and calmed himself as he scanned the dark living room, "Tadashi?"

He rushed down into the basement, his desk was messy as if he'd left it on short-notice, the machines hadn't been active for a while; it wasn't hot down there. It was only burning up if the machines were running, but it was as cold as it was outside. This wasn't good, Hiro was back to ground level and rushed upstairs. His brother's room was empty as well. Could he have saw he was missing and gone after him? Oh god, no! Hiro checked the garage and saw the disturbing message originally planted there for his brother to see.

Surely Tadashi was fine, right? Probably out there looking for him! He hoped...

The brazen adolescent made it back down the basement, hoping for a hint at where Tadashi may have gone. He saw the mounds of notes surrounding his laptop, but he swiped them all off and opened it up. It was locked! Hiro was aggravated, exhausted, and pissed beyong belief. "DAMN IT!" He shouted as he slammed his fists onto the desk, causing one of the doors to slip open. It was an old desk, being their father's when he was a child, so it wasn't surprising how easily it malfunctioned. What Hiro _didn't_ expect to see was a dusty journal with a child's hand-writing on the front cover. The dark-haired boy almost ignored it, but something seemed familiar about it.

When he pulled it out and read it, he recognized the writing of his once seven-year-old brother. Hiro didn't know why, but the troubles of that moment faded away when he opened it up. On the front page was a picture of a young, toothy Tadashi himself holding his newborn brother, it was labeled; **_The day I became a big brother! Meet Hiro Hamada!_**

Tadashi was always a robotics prodigy; he had all of his ideas and blueprints written out on each page. Hiro was just in awe of how passionate his _Nii-san_ remained throughout his life, how his brother's thoughts matured and ideas changed was all in that little book. Hiro of course occasionally came across the family picture of them on a picnic or flower-observing, which made him welt up with nostalgia. He thought the journal was over until he saw there were a few extra pages that didn't match the rest...

Hiro turned it to see the drawing of a three-year-old; a robot samurai with a horned helmet, next to it were Tadashi's notes and a title the **_Cyber Samurai._ **Had Hiro just read what he thought he had? He turned to see more of his old drawings with notes and revised sketches next to them; he turned and turned until he came to the final page; _Hiro, thanks for all the ideas! You're going to make a great owner for our famliy company one day! This journal will be yours soon._

It had been a hand-made gift Tadashi was saving for him all along... Hiro felt a tear of joy fall from his left eye, never feeling more loved by anyone in his life... All these years he thought he was a fool in his brother's eyes. Instead, he was an inspiration.

...His _Nii-san_ needed him. Hiro couldn't waste anymore time. He flipped through the pages until he found a three-year-old design that was practical-looking. "Okay." He whispered to himself. Once Hiro figured out the password to his brother's laptop, the machines started to steam up and Hiro realized he had no idea what he was doing. But he came from a family of geniuses, he could figure it out, "Tadashi, you're the craziest, most stubborn person I've ever met." He said, "And you're still the coolest person to me."

Hiro found the designing and scanning program, he knew his body-type and measurements. He remembered what had gotten him out of it as a child when he started with the gaunlet; a gaunlet with a built in palm-canon... That's how he would save Tadashi. Hiro was soon adding the finishing touches, "You're also the dumbest, most idiotic person in the world for going after a lunatic in a mask... But that's fine, because I'm about to too." Hiro finally finished his indigo and red armor with black undertights and steel-toed boots and he was about to hit the master finish command, "I finally understand why you like this shit." Hiro told Tadashi spiritually, "You get to save people..." He inhaled, still doubting himself, "Let's roll."

The machines were fired up and the basement was filled with overwhelming plethoras of sounds as each peace of armor came out one at a time. Hiro's helmet was the only piece of equipment he could automatically remove with the push of the button on his forearm; rebuilding itself over his head, it kept his messy hair out of his eyes. Hiro had his palm-canon ready, he was suited up in a way he never thought he'd be.

Then of course, he had an essential pair of equipment for transportation. Thanks Tadashi, your nagging helped me after all, he thought. Hiro started from the ground, his most familiar area. He breathed heavily, he couldn't keep Tadashi waiting... He told himself to fly and suddenly, he was twenty feet in the air; his rocket thrusters were more powerful than he'd anticipated and he struggled to keep himself in balance. He was in a near panic before he told himself that's what would get him killed "Stay calm stay calm! Go west!" Hiro's body was rotating in all directions as he struggled to follow one direction. He was in the midst of city lights and traffic before he fell onto a rooftop.

Hiro then realized he'd found a routine; falling was more practical. He leapt off of one surface to the other, remembering the building just below the Tokyo Tower, it's amazing red glow was in plain sight. He was hopping rooftops, knowing if he fell he could boost himself back up. Finally, it was so close he was sure he could touch it. Hiro yelled out and with all of his might, jumped from one rooftop to the next, catching himself with his wings before he had a heavy impact. This was it, but suddenly, an army of microbots rose to the sky and he watched. Whatever that freak's plan was, it seemed to be coming into play. People were stepping out of their cars to see what the hell was happening.

Hiro didn't have time to lose. Hiro made it to the top of the frighteningly tall building. He went to open the roof door but a swarm of microbots shot out before he could touch it. He waited until they were done and crept in... Unseen through the night.


	13. I Can't Lose You

**Souls_&_Swords: I want to clarify to those who haven't seen the movie; Orochi is an OC; I started this long before the movie was even released. Just to avoid confusion. And just to point out, I'm only updating daily because I'm very close to finishing and want to work on my other stories :) Though, they don't have many faithful followers as this one does. ^_^ Thank you!**

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Orochi's plans were unfolding as Tadashi let himself begin to wilt; withering away he would down there, chained to a wall, unable to take a step forward or at least shift into a more comfortable position (if he could even _get_ comfortable)! Tadashi knew it was the right thing to stop Orochi, but what was the point? Even if he did Tokyo benefit, he'd have no one to come home to; he wouldn't be protecting someone he loved. His head was hung low in shame. He'd failed his father, his mother, his co-workers... And now his brother. What good would be going on living? He only caused people pain; he'd wallow in their misery.

He didn't realize what he'd had until it was gone... Hiro was his living motivation. But now the young man had no reason to keep moving ahead, nor to even bother saving his home town; he'd rather burn with it. He was trapped in the factory area of the building that he couldn't hear the screams, crashes, and rampages of the Tokyo citizens either running or trying to drive away. Orochi was enjoying himself from above the clouds, but he looked at YinYang and said, "It's a shame that Tadashi is missing out on all of this excitement. Why don't you go fetch him? Bring him his helmet, I left it in my _office_." Meaning the top floor of the building, where he kept it so Tadashi couldn't ruin his plan with those wings of his.

YinYang processed the command and flew towards the building just adjacent to the Tokyo Tower, it shined like the only beacon of hope and it's tangy glow reflected off the millions of bots. As long as it was standing, the fleeing men, women, and children could pray that all would be alright. Down below where it was dark, all hope was lost. Tadashi didn't even raise his head when YinYang flew through the hole in the cieling and landed before him, "Yokai requests your presence up above." He held out Tadashi's red and purple helmet with one hand and pointed up with the other; there were so many levels of flooring to go through before they were even 'up!'

Tadashi glanced at him and put his head back down, "I don't want to."

"It was not a question, he ordered me to bring you up there."

"For what?! So he can make me watch people die?! What more does he want to take away from me?!"

"I will unhook you." The teal-armored and red-eyed robot was going to step over to the controls, but Tadashi yelled at him.

"NO! I'd rather stay down here and starve then dare place myself next to that peace of _filth!_" The brown-eyed man screeched, though he know he'd angered the master's lap-dog. And it was angry now. Although it wasn't an order, he'd follow 'Yokai's' code.

"Master says that anyone who defies him..." His hand pulled back into his forearm, dropped the helmet, and out came something else... Something Orochi must've installed, because never had Tadashi attempted to input a weapon of violence before that day. A machine gun formed in place of his hand and he aimed it, "Must be terminated." Tadashi was sure he wouldn't have a second to react, too much stress to even imagine what the pain of being shot would feel like. Nothing like the pain of losing his parents, his trusted lab partner, and his brother... But three of the former he'd be joining soon.

"Hey! Asshole!"

YinYang was going to shoot, but the voice of a fourteen-year-old had buzzed in. He imediately recognized the kid in the indi go and red armor. Hiro shot the machine gun clean off of it's arm with a laser, disarming him quickly. Hiro jumped down from his spot on the catwalk and kicked YinYang hard, using his rocket thruster wings to give him momentum of course. He truly _was_ as strong as he looked; not too strong. YinYang fell against the wall and his red eyes dimmed, going blank.

Tadashi was awestruck, his heart was pounding and he felt dizzy. Hiro disabled his helmet and rushed to his brother, "Tadashi, you okay?!"

"H-Heh-Hiro!" He wanted to hug him tightly like he was a toddler and not release him; he wanted to kiss him all over his forehead. Tadashi's swollen heart was receding, his tears were becoming those of joy. The younger brother was oblivious as he tried to undo the chains on Tadashi's wrists, "You're okay!"

"Yeah..." He grunted, "But these things aren't coming off!"

"I thought you were dead!" Tadashi shouted, but Hiro quickly denied it.

"It's gonna take more than some stupid drone and freak in a mask to keep me from saving you!" Tadashi was silently crying, but he had a smile, "But what the hell do we do?" He moved Tadashi's shoulder.

"Hiro! Don-!" He was shocked and Hiro jumped back, surprised by the sudden electrocution; had he not adapted to surprises by now?

"Sorry?" Hiro gave an awkward, gap-toothed grin. Tadashi quickly chuckled.

"You can zap me as much as you want, I'm just happy you're alive!" Hiro peered over his shoulder by standing on his toes; the boots making him slightly taller, "There's something on your back!" It was a small nanobot twitching, embedded onto the cloth underneath the piece of armor that was torn off. Hiro pointed it out.

"Orochi put that there." Tadashi said.

"Orochi?" Why did he know that name? "Orochi Daichi?!" Tadashi nodded and told him to remove it, "Fucking creep!" Hiro went to touch it, but it stung even through his gloves. He shook his hand a little, but decided to approach this carefully.

"Hiro, you got it?" Hiro was killing his shoulder, already holding heavy plated armor, Hiro was pushing on it to peak over.

"Hang on..." The laser canon only fired at how quickly with how much force Hiro needed it to, he aimed it precisely over it, "Just don't flinch." Tadashi raised a brow, but the sudden _pop!_ From behind him nearly made him jump and something felt like it had clawed the flesh on his back off. It hadn't, just a slight abrasion; a rug burn really. The two brothers saw the microbot sizzling and twitching on the ground until it was immoble. Hiro stood back, "Now try!"

Tadashi was weak, but the absolute need to embrace his brother ignited him to pull his right arm with as much strength needed. Even if it felt like the muscles in his biceps were burning, he didn't care. He tugged until the metal pulled loose and his arm was free. Hiro smiled, and Tadashi pulled his left arm free shortly after. The older brother went to complete their semi-reunion, but there was another problem; his wings were drilled to the wall, "Dammit!" He couldn't just unequip his armor either, they were a part of it!

Hiro tried to keep optimistic, "It's okay! Maybe I can..." The messy-haired one saw the controls and tried to decipher them... It was no use, "Uh..."

"None of those are gonna work."

"It might! Just..." Hiro tapped a button, part of the wall behind Tadashi, an eight-and-a-half-by-eleven inch board that was rigged to swing out and hit an intruder beamed the side of the older brother's head. He grabbed the side of his jaw and groaned, "Sorry!" Hiro cringed.

The first-born son to Atsushi and Kimiko Hamada waved his hands before his brother could tap a second button, "Stopstopstop!" He breathed, "Just try and loosen them."

"I can do that." Hiro nodded, "And once you're out of here," He fildded with the screws as much as he could; the metal plates holding them against the wall were stubborn, but no problem for the feisty _otouto_, "we'll catch that guy! And we'll pummel-"

"What do you mean 'we?'" Tadashi grabbed his brother and directed him so they were face to face.

"Well we're gonna fight him together!"

"No, we're _not_. _I_ am." It was like their childhood all over again, Hiro's expression became bitter.

"What the hell makes you think I'm gonna watch you fly away, possibly never seeing you again?!"

"Hiro-"

"Like every single time!" Hiro paced away from him, "I want to help you, you shove me away!"

"_Otouto!_"

He whirled back around and angrily got nose-to-nose with him, "No! This time I'm coming with you."

"No you're not!"

"Why?!"

Tadashi grabbed his shoulders, looked into his eyes and screamed, "I CAN'T LOSE YOU!" It was enough to shake the underground lab, it blended in with the chaos above ground, "I can't..." His eyes glossed over and he started to sob, holding his brother more delicately, "You're all I have." Hiro's large brown eyes shined and grew gentle, "When I thought you were dead, I was good as dead too." It was his more sincere way of saying how much he loved him, "I can't risk losing you. Because there's no point in going on without the one person I have gone." Hiro bit his lip, forcing the tears to stay put, it was in vain when Tadashi continued, "You have no idea how lost I'd be without you around. You're my strength. You forgave me for every single promise I broke... I can't even begin to say how lucky I am to have you."

Hiro hugged his brother tightly around his neck as Tadashi held him, "I love you, _Nii-san_." A tear went down his cheek, not being quite as tender as his soft older brother. Even though they were both crying, they were euphorically happy. Hiro let go and playfully punched his chest, "But you need to trust me! If we're brothers, we have to fight him together! Two against one? Okay?"

"It's a deal."

Hiro was suddenly yanked by one leg down to the floor, just a few feet away from where he stood. He yelled out from shock but started to get up, "Hiro?!" The young one insisted he was fine, but when he was nearly on his feet, he was dragged by his right leg across the room, "HIRO!"

Hiro screamed with each struggle to grab something. YinYang's eyes were glowing red and he rose to his eight-foot height, dragging Hiro by magnifying the steel at the end of his boots, "_NII-SAN!"_ Hiro tried to aim his palm canon, but it was all for not, as YinYang placed one foot on his stomach and chest, pushing the wind out of him and he could hardly breathe. Hiro exhaled until his face was blue.

Tadashi was trying what he could, but he couldn't aim properly, not at that angle. He couldn't escape, he was pulling against the metal as hard as he could. YinYang released his step, Hiro was weak enough to finish off. Hiro was breathing heavily, trying to refill his empty lungs, his red, teary eyes blurred his vision, but he could see from YinYang's forearm was an oversized drill affixed to his armor. It was like a spinning harpoon and it was right among his face, "No, no please." Hiro whispered inaudiably, hoping the drone would have some sense. He could hardly move.

"_OTOUTO!"_ YinYang knelt down and fired the drill's engine, it was a loud, high-pitched whirring sound that was going to turn Hiro into a bloody mess, even though he couldn't breathe, the fourteen-year-old screamed whatever was left in his lungs out. However, there was a noise more empowering than the drill, **"NOOOOO!"** The sound of a brother who was angry and terrified beyond description. He pulled himself free, wings breaking off of his back. He was human again.

Tadashi pounced the large beast and hurled him off of his gagging and choking brother. Tadashi was strangling him to the best of his ability and at the same time dodging the drill. Hiro got to his knees, trying to regain some strength, for he already had the tenacity. The eighteen-year-old nearly seized his head, but YinYang shoved him off and he hit the wall head on. Hiro telepathically commanded his suit to reinstall his helmet and rushed towards the two. Before YinYang was going to shove Tadashi's head in with the pointed end of the drill, Hiro grabbed the unassuming beast and dragged him maybe an inch away before the robot retaliated, shoving him off with it's metal arm. Tadashi saw his brother bounce off the floor and grab his shoulder in pain.

Growling, Tadashi responded by waiting for YinYang to try and strike again. He was ready, trusting his instincts he stood up. No one... _No one_ touched his brother. The bot and the man stared at one another like predator and prey. YinYang's drill began to spin, Hiro rolled over and saw, "Tadashi! MOVE!" The brother didn't listen, he waited... The monster struck!

Tadashi seized YinYang's rist and, using the thrusters in his gaunlet, reverted the same strength onto him so neither one could move. Tadashi pushed the spinning drill harder, imbuing more power into the glove so that he could redirect it. The drill did a complete 180 degree turn and completely demolished YinYang's abdomen. Hiro was breathless, his eyes were wide and pupils were small.

The creature's eyes that were once red and fixed on Tadashi fell with it's own weapon pierced through it, dead. Tadashi had sacrificed his one dream of flying for his brother, nearly even giving his life in so. Tadashi stood triumphant, but he fell to his knees, exhausted. Hiro stood next to him, but neither one looked at each other directly. Hiro was fixated on the wings, how they were on the ground, lifeless, no longer of use.

They had meant everything to him yet... Hiro must've meant a little bit more. He held out a hand to lift his brother back to his feet, "Let's go catch a lunatic now."


End file.
